Nicor Gas Sponsors Two H2GP Teams from Plum Grove Academy
The H2GP Foundation is delighted to announce Nicor Gas has agreed to sponsor two H2GP teams from Plum Grove Academy in Rolling Meadows, Illinois for the upcoming H2GP season.
Nicola Weiss, Executive Director of the H2GP Foundation, responded to the news by thanking Nicor Gas for their commitment to clean energy education:
“We’re thrilled to have Nicor Gas onboard for the 2024 H2GP season in the Midwest. Their support means clean energy education will become accessible to even more students in one of America’s most innovative regions. Partners like Nicor Gas keep us laser focused on our mission of creating the next generation of clean energy innovators.”
The semester-long H2GP program empowers students to be the problem-solvers of tomorrow, gaining clean energy skills vital for America’s energy transition. Students design, engineer, construct and race 1:10 scale cars powered by hydrogen, emitting nothing but water vapor as exhaust.
However, one of the key things students gain from the program is a sense of teamwork and comradery with their classmates. We saw this last year when a teacher from Plum Grove Academy commented on the individual development the H2GP program allowed one student to make:
“There are several students that stood out on our teams, but one in particular had a noticeable change in all aspects of his school life. I had a student I was concerned about who had isolated himself socially and never showed emotion. When I reached out to parents in October, they said that they saw the same things in their son and that he shared with them that he felt bored at school and really did not see the value to relationships. They suggested that they believed he is on the higher end of the autism spectrum, but had not pursued a formal diagnosis.
“It may sound dramatic, but I actually believe that this club has changed his life. His engagement in class and socially was the same from August through spring. Within a week of the club meeting in March, he was actively seeking out his teammates to discuss the car, developing friendships and noticeably happy. His teachers in other subject areas brought up the visible change at our weekly team meetings. By the end of the school year, he was a completely different young man. He sought out opportunities to talk to classmates about both academic topics and the typical daily banter of middle schoolers. He has found his people in this club and is thriving with the challenges it presents.”
Organizations interested in sponsoring a group of students to take part in the H2GP program can contact [obfuscate_1_|103|41|94|109|62|103|102|105|102|120|110|101|92|97|115|98|88|107|102|109|109|88|99|43|97|110|100]