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For the Win: Riding the Green School Bus

For the Win is a guest blog series featuring the remarkable initiatives that young Americans are advancing to win the future for their communities. Each week we highlight a new young person and learn about their inspiring work through their own words. Submit your story to appear in the For the Win guest blog series.

Jonny Cohen is a junior at Highland Park High School in Highland Park, Il. He is an inventor and experimenter as well as the founder of GreenShields. He is constantly working to help the environment. Jonny is a member of the 2011 PARADE All-America High School Service Team, an award recognizing outstanding young service leaders presented by PARADE Magazine in partnership with generationOn, the global youth service division of Points of Light Institute:

Johnny Cohen (Photo courtesy of Points of Light Institute)

When I walk to school, I notice things. In seventh grade I noticed that school buses parked in front of my junior high were spewing exhaust and something had to be done to make this better. Then it hit me! The shape of the school bus was not aerodynamic. I had taken a Saturday class in aerodynamics at Northwestern University. I thought that maybe a shield angled on the front of the school bus that was clear and plastic could redirect the airflow and this could save gas. I told my older sister, Azza, and she liked the idea. (Side note: there were a lot of other ideas that involved loud noises and homemade rockets that she was not a fan of!)

I went to see Mr. Kunal Pujara, the physics teacher at Highland Park High School and he encouraged me to explore more. I entered a Youth Venture science contest, won a grant and built my own wind tunnel in the garage with a leaf blower to test school bus models. I knew I needed a team, so I asked Azza and her friends to help. I went to a Youth Venture Summit and met with other inspiring teens, which encouraged me to enter the Pepsi Refresh contest, where I won another grant. To receive the Pepsi grant I used Facebook and emailed everyone I knew to get people to vote for my project. I never thought I could win! Online voting seemed impossible and I didn’t want to bother people. But you know what? I pushed myself. I sat in the grocery store on weekends and I made presentations at city hall, all the while asking people in my town to vote for my idea so I could get the funding I needed!

In March of my freshman year I was notified that I had won a $25,000 grant and was interviewed on Good Morning America! The computer drawings I brought with me were made by my friend and fellow student team member, Alex Berkowitz. We worked all weekend on them and I was so excited! I realized that I could finally build and test my idea, but I knew that I needed more smart people to help me. I sent out emails and Northwestern University answered. For the past two summers I have had the privilege to work on this project, which I have since named GreenShields with project advisor, Stacy Benjamin and engineering interns, Tim Healy and Matt Filak. There have been ups and downs but that is exactly what makes solving a problem fun.  

The first prototype worked, we saved about 28 percent gas mileage, but it was big, heavy and took time to install. We have been working to make it smaller, lighter and easier to attach. We tested other materials, some worked and some didn’t. We are considering a new scoop design. This is engineering and we need to keep trying until we find an answer.

The most important lesson that I’ve learned is that it’s ok to think up crazy ideas and share them, even when other people might think it’s not possible. As I always say, try to see things not the way they are, but how they could be. Don't be afraid to think or say something different. That crazy idea of yours just might help solve a problem for the environment and the world!  

Sacred Power: Growing Jobs and Nurturing Communities

Editor's Note: This blog introduces readers to David Melton, Chief Executive Officer of Sacred Power Corporation.

Sacred Power Corporation (SPC) was established in 2001 as Native American owned and operated small business that provides renewable energy solutions to government, commercial and residential customers. "Using the strengths of the Father to Protect the Gifts of the Mother" is our guiding principle, and it has guided us to success.

SPC has always been at the forefront of renewable energy innovation, beginning with our installation of the first solar carport structure in the State of New Mexico. Nearly eleven years later, that same carport is generating clean energy for the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, NM. With funding from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act and the support of the Obama Administration, we have now put large-scale renewable energy installations in New Mexico Schools for the first time. This allowed SPC to hire people at a time when jobs are scarce. With hundreds of installations across the U.S, SPC now employs 59 people from all disciplines, including engineers, electricians, installers, and office and administrative staff. We're also working with teachers to help them educate and inspire students about the great potential of green technology and green jobs in our communities. And we're working with Tribal Nations on the construction of energy efficient and solar powered Housing and Urban Development homes for lower-income Americans, who spend much of their earnings on their energy bills.

Sacred Power's portable solar array/wind turbine combination is transported to nearby schools for clean and efficient energy use.

SPC's patented stand-alone solar generators provide cost effective rural electrification for Native American homes. This power provides refrigeration for fresh foods, milk, and medicines, and for basic home needs. Unfortunately, there are over 10,000 of these “off-grid” homes scattered across Native Lands in the desert southwest without power, fuel or running water. SPC systems have already helped hundreds of senior citizens, single parent and low income families. 

We are proud to have over ten Tribal Nations represented among our employees. And we are proud that our remote power systems, energy efficient telecommunication shelters, and grid tie photovoltaic power generators have served public sector customers of Tribal Nations, the U.S. Military, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, U.S. Forest Service, and NASA, to name a few.

CEQ Chair Sutley tours Sacred Power Corporation.

At SPC, we know firsthand the potential of renewable energy and green technology to provide good jobs. We hope to take advantage of this potential to continue to grow and sustain our community for years to come.

David Melton is Chief Executive Officer of Sacred Power Corporation