Thank YOU! As we look back at everything that made 2024 a success, it is our work with our dedicated teachers, energized students, and committed partners that makes it all possible. Our work is exciting, engaging, and fun because of you. Seeing a spark of energy and interest in the eyes of our students is what excites us. Hearing a teacher say that our workshop was the best professional development they have attended in their entire career thrills us. Reading evaluations from teachers and students that say their time with NEED programs helped them learn, explore, and lead in their schools and communities makes us proud of the impact we can have together.
In 2024, NEED continued to grow our team and to expand our work. Thanks to partners who worked with us to enhance our capabilities we were able to accomplish even more. We added new workforce development and skills curriculum and training to a portfolio of over 150 curriculum modules. We hosted high school and college mentorship programs reaching over 500 students. We launched a new website. We built electric go-karts with high school girls. We designed employee engagement and outreach programs for our partners. We helped students and teachers learn about storm preparedness and response in the electric utility sector. We gave students the opportunity to explore renewable and nonrenewable energy sources and learn how we use them. Students designed microgrids and powered them. They learned how to use energy more efficiently. They learned how the energy we use is developed and generated and how the products we use are made and delivered to us. At the core of this is NEED’s Kids Teaching Kids philosophy. Students learned about energy, taught others, and developed their own leadership and workforce skills.
I am proud of our incredible team of energy and education professionals - on our staff, our facilitator team, our Teacher Advisory Board, and our Board of Directors. We are an organization of “energy nerds” and each of us appreciates the role energy plays in our daily lives and knows that helping our students understand energy means we have a bright energy future ahead. Our sponsors and partners allow us to have a lasting impact on tomorrow’s energy workforce and energy decision makers because of their investment in today’s students and teachers. Check out the list of our dedicated partners here.
As we share our success and progress in 2024, we launch a year of celebration as NEED celebrates 45 YEARS working to bring innovative, engaging, and fun opportunities to teachers, students, and local communities. 2025 brings many opportunities to celebrate NEED’s impact on energy education. It brings an opportunity to continue the discussion about the role energy plays in our lives. Most importantly, it brings a new year of exploration, engagement, and energy to our nation’s teachers and students. We look forward to having you with us for all of the fun ahead.
In gratitude,
Mary E. Spruill
Executive Director