Wind turbine may spin at Mahtomedi High School

Money and academic opportunities are blowing in the wind at Mahtomedi High School, and a group of citizens dedicated to going green intends to capture them.

The Mahtomedi Area Green Initiative (MAGI) is in the final stages of a fundraising effort to buy a $100,000 wind turbine and data collection equipment and install the gear on the high school campus.

MAGI still needs about $15,000 and approval from the city to erect the 125-foot Bergey 10-kilowatt turbine, but the Zephyr Wind Project recently got a boost when the all-volunteer group picked up a $25,000 federal renewable energy grant from the Minnesota Office of Energy Security and a $7,400 Metro Clean Energy Resource Team grant. The group hopes to have the remaining money in hand soon so construction can coincide with a major upgrade of school district athletic facilities and buildings planned for this summer, said MAGI spokeswoman Jeanne Zlonis.

Supporters Meg Anderson and David Washburn, along with the PSG Foundation, have each pledged $4,000 to create an $8,000 challenge grant in an effort to secure the remaining money, Zlonis said.

"It's a very exciting proposal to think we could have a wind turbine here and use it in our curriculum," said Mahtomedi High School Principal Kathe Nickleby. "We see it as a great educational opportunity."

Nickleby said one middle-school engineering teacher has plans to incorporate data collection and analysis into his Energy and Environment class, and instructors at the elementary schools are looking at ways to get their students involved. The district, which has had an engineering program since 2007, also has plans to incorporate the turbine and its data collection into high school science, technology and mathematics courses.

"They are going to learn about the reality of wind and learn about technologies that are developing," Zlonis said. "Students can start thinking in terms of this amount of energy will power X or power Y. We will be able to provide students with real-time data to make calculations."

Named for Mahtomedi High School's athletic teams -- the Zephyrs, for the Greek god of the west wind -- the Zephyr Wind Project signals a strong environmentalist orientation of the community, said Al Holcomb, co-chairman of St. Andrew's Lutheran Church's Environmental Stewardship Committee. "We are very much in support of this," he said.

For the past five years, MAGI volunteers have worked within the community to promote energy conservation, renewable energy and sustainability. Going forward, MAGI has ideas for other clean-energy projects that include erecting solar electric panels on school buildings, adding solar thermal hot water systems in school and city buildings, and installing new bike racks around the community.

"What we are working for is to build a future that is more sustainable for the Mahtomedi area," Zlonis said.