The US Environmental Protection Agency recently announced its 2021 President’s Student and Teacher Environmental Awards winners. Among the winners was Denise Renfro, a Career and Technical Education (CTE) teacher and director of the Academy of Green Technology at Douglas Byrd High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Denise was one of two teachers awarded the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators (PIAEE) for Region 4, which includes North Carolina.
The Academy of Green Technology (AoGT) prepares high school students to have the technical and collaborative skills needed to lead the emerging green and global economy through interdisciplinary learning experiences in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and there is no doubt that Renfro has contributed to the success of this program and of her students
Renfro is a CTE teacher who is successfully using energy and the environment as a unifying theme to engage and ultimately prepare her students for careers as STEM professionals to tackle challenges such as climate change and the transition to a low carbon energy system. Renfro believes in teaching through authentic investigations using technologies that her students not only learn about in the classroom but apply in real life. This experiential and place-based approach is not only effective at promoting student learning but fun for students. Whether her students are launching seeds on a weather balloon into the stratosphere, flying drones to assess vegetation, or teaching younger students about solar energy and conservation using an off-grid solar trailer, they are engaged and having fun.
“I have spent my entire career as an educator engaging students either outdoors or in a lab physically doing things, and if this unique mixture of educational pursuits has taught me anything, it is that students learn best and enjoy learning most by actually doing things, and preferably doing them outdoors. They learn even more by applying what they learn in new and unique environments, and those benefits seem to multiply exponentially when their applications are in service to others. They gain much-needed leadership and confidence, and they make connections to others in the wider community,” says Renfro.
The school is in an underserved, minority community that struggles with academic progress, poor graduation rates, food insecurity, and other challenges. With many students lacking extracurricular STEM opportunities, confidence with technology, and/or leadership opportunities, her approach to engaging students is likely contributing to AoGT’s success, with a graduation rate of 100% through the 2019/2020 academic year and student college enrollment at 70%.
Renfro has applied for more than $400,000 in grants during her career, almost all related to energy and environmental studies to get supplies into the hands of her students and to support her own professional development which brings more authentic learning opportunities into the classroom. In 2020, she received a Fund for Teachers Fellowship grant and will be going to Canada and Iceland to study energy generation and electric grid resiliency in the summer of 2022. She is a proud NC Energy Literacy Fellow, a teacher professional development program based out of UNC’s Institute for the Environment that provides a comprehensive approach to teaching energy-related content in the classroom modeled around experiential, place-based, and project-based classroom strategies. Renfro has emerged as a teacher leader in the NC Energy Literacy Fellows community and, most recently has been part of a teacher-led working group to develop a lesson on energy justice that she will deliver to students this fall.
“Denise is a highly motivated CTE teacher who uses STEM to engage her students in learning about current energy and environmental issues using technologies to monitor and solve relevant problems. I think her marrying of CTE content with environmental education made her a unique applicant for this award and I am thrilled to see her recognized by the environmental education community,” says Dana Haine, Director of the NC Energy Literacy Fellows Program, who has known Renfro for more than a decade. “It is exciting to have an NC Energy Literacy Fellow recognized for her work to engage diverse youth in learning about today’s environmental challenges.”
In a virtual ceremony, EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory recognized the awardees. “This past school year has been one of the most challenging for our nation, yet students and teachers across the country remained dedicated to tackling the most pressing environmental challenges we face – from climate change to environmental justice,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “I’m so proud of the remarkable youth and educators we’re honoring today, and their work to make a difference in their communities. By working hand in hand, we can create a more sustainable, more equitable world.”
Read the full EPA News Release
Read more about Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators (PIAEE) 2021 Winners
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