Today We Celebrate the new Wind Curriculum at Thorne Ecological

A very nice journalist, Laura Snider, from the Boulder Daily Camera newspaper interviewed Thorne staff and Mayer family members Alix, Brooke, and Kip about the Rudd Fund and the wind project. This article appeared today.

An important point about the partnership with Thorne is that the Mayer Family had a vision of installing a wind turbine in Boulder and continuing Rudd's work in the form of wind energy education. We had stalled out on this idea until we partnered with Thorne. Kelly Keena, Thorne's lead educator and acting Executive Director, was instrumental in fleshing out this idea. The contents of the wind exhibit and the wind curriculum were all designed and inspired by Kelly.

There will be a demonstration of Kelly's Energy Chain curriculum at today's event. One of the educational panels in the exhibit hall is also based on the Energy Chain, showing how much energy it takes to make electricity from coal and how much energy it takes to make electricity from wind. It is enlightening to see how both energy chains converge at the spinning turbine - however, what it takes to propel them is vastly different. It really drives home the message about how important it is to supplement power with wind and other renewable resources as much as possible.

As of today's event to celebrate the wind project, we have transferred stewardship of the Rudd Fund from WRA to Thorne Ecological. We have a small balance to begin the next phase of the project with a new, broader mission to teach kids about all forms of renewable energy. The new name of the Rudd Fund is: The Rudd Renewable Energy Education Fund. Keep your eyes on Thorne - more exciting projects are sure to come!

We'll post photos of the event and the exhibit later this week.