Wind Turbines for Schools to Be Topic of June 1st Audubon Meeting
During her years in the Northumberland County educational system, Jenny Dunaway
worked closely with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), the Virginia Living
Museum, and Belle Isle State Park to offer meaningful field experiences to her
students. She also worked with the Northumberland Association for Progressive
Stewardship, winning a grant for the Outdoor Classroom that was built behind
Northumberland Elementary School. Mrs. Dunaway collaborated with Lee Allain,
Amy Lamb, and Jorvanda Ashton to have the Senior Math Capstone class create a
working solar panel. In addition, she wrote the grant to enable Northumberland
County Public Schools to have the first wind turbine installed on school
property in Virginia in February of 2011.
Since the installation, the school's wind turbine has been sending data to the
Wind for Schools site in Idaho. Students and teachers in the Northern Neck and
Middle Peninsula have visited the school's turbine and participated in Kid Wind
workshops. Mrs. Dunaway even led a workshop at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's
Field Station, Fox Island, with a group of 7th graders from Peasley Middle
School.
Mrs. Dunaway has conducted Kid Wind workshops with CBF educators and teachers
from all across the state at numerous conferences. In 2013 she coordinated
the regional Kid Wind Challenge in Virginia Beach. Two of Northumberland’s
students won first in the state for their blade design and went on to the
national competition in Washington, D.C.
Mrs. Dunaway graduated from Christopher Newport University in 1979 with a B.A.
in Elementary Education. She taught Language Arts and Science at Poquoson
Middle School for thirteen years. After moving to the Northern Neck, she
taught Life Science at Northumberland Middle School until she became the
Instructional Technology Resource Teacher (ITRT) for Northumberland County in
2005. Mrs. Dunaway earned her M.A. in Gifted Education from the College of
William and Mary in 2006. In addition to being the ITRT for Northumberland
County, she was also the Gifted Resource teacher, the Future Problem Solving
Coach, the webmaster of the school's website, and a Virginia Wind Senator. In
June of 2014, Mrs. Dunaway retired after thirty-five years in education. She
continues to be a spokesperson for wind energy in her role as a Virginia Wind
Senator.
The meeting will take place at Grace Episcopal Church, Kilmarnock, VA on June
1, 2015, at 7:00 PM. Free to the public and refreshments will be served.
Bonnie Wilson
NNAS
