Energizing Student Potential
Energizing Student Potential (ESP) is a free STEM program designed to help educators bring energy into the school and to provide all the tools and resources necessary for students and educators to learn together, explore energy together, and teach their local communities about energy.
The program brings together standards-based curriculum for use by library media specialists, classroom and afterschool teachers. Energizing Student Potential is a collaborative educational initiative designed to empower students to explore opportunities in STEM fields and help them discover their own path to innovation through a variety of classroom subjects.
Teachers receive hands-on training, curriculum materials, and resources to help bring STEM into their classroom or OST Programs.
Students host community energy fairs, engage in educational energy audits of their school building, and master energy concepts to teach their peers.
Beginning in 2016, the Exelon Foundation, ComEd, Nicor Gas, Peoples Gas, North Shore Gas, and BP America, in partnership with the National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project, sponsor the Illinois and NW Indiana Energizing Student Potential Program for grades 3 – 12 within their respective customer regions.
Pepco and the Exelon Foundation, in partnership with NEED, sponsor the Energizing Student Potential Program for grades 3 - 12 in Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) MD, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) MD, and District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) for use by classroom teachers, library media specialists, and afterschool program leaders in classroom or other settings. The program started with District of Columbia Public Schools in 2017 and expanded to include PGCPS and MCPS in 2018.
In 2021, BGE and the Exelon Foundation, in partnership with the National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project, offer local schools the Energizing Student Potential (ESP), a STEM-focused energy program for grades 3 – 12 throughout the BGE service area. The program is perfect for youth advocacy organizations with afterschool or weekend programs for youth.
In 2022, NEED partnered with the Exelon Foundation and Delmarva Power to offer this STEM-focused energy program for grades 3–12 in Delmarva Power communities.
A total of 322 schools participated in the 2023-2024 Energizing Student Potential Program. Over 80,139 students were engaged with curriculum and materials provided from the ESP Program, through classroom education, afterschool settings, energy fairs, educational energy audits, and the energy innovation challenge.
ESP Program Resources & Grants
- Teacher training (substitute reimbursement, stipend, and CPDUs provided).
- Curriculum and hands-on kits to teach about:
- the science of energy and energy transformations
- electricity generation
- renewable energy
- petroleum and natural gas
- energy efficiency & conservation
- climate science
- nuclear energy
- energy careers and workforce development
- Opportunity to apply for a $400 grant to support STEM and energy-focused supplies and materials.
- Opportunity to receive an Energizing Student Potential Energy Fair Kit and mini grant to help host a community STEM Fair.
- Opportunity to have a group of students use their school building as learning laboratory and participate in an Educational Energy Audit with a Certified Energy Manager.
- Opportunity to participate in an Energy Innovation Challenge Project.
- Connections to STEM professionals to help students see the many possibilities of STEM and energy careers.
Applications for the Energizing Student Potential Program are accepted on a rolling basis each academic year, learn more here.
"Students absolutely loved the Energy Audit. What we were learning in class became very real and they saw that making a change was in their power. They also had the opportunity to be leaders and teach their peers what they learned." - ESP IL School
"I feel the ESP Program built the students confidence up.
Many of them were very excited and became
very knowledgeable in the content they were teaching."
-ESP PGCPS Teacher
PEEP 2.0
PECO and The Exelon Foundation, in partnership with the National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project, offer PECO Energizing Education Program (PEEP) 2.0, a STEM-focused energy program for grades 4-12. This program brings together standards-based curriculum, teacher training, STEM innovation challenges and many other engaging and fun activities.
PEEP 2.0 Programming invites educators from across the 6 counties PECO serves to participate in energy education workshops and receive hands-on kits for their classrooms. Participants receive their choice of a hands-on energy kit and standards-aligned curriculum.
A total of 88 teachers participated in the 2023-2024 PEEP Program, not including any co-teachers who assisted in implementing the program. There were 72 participating schools across 41 cities in Pennsylvania. At least 14,984 students reached utilizing program materials and curriculum presented, with additional student reach through educational energy audits and school energy fairs.
"This was great!
Best professional development I've attended
since I've started teaching 13 years ago."
-PEEP Program Teacher
Prince George’s County (MD) Summer Youth Enrichment Program (SYEP)
Virtual · 300 Students · Building Valuable Work Skills · Energy Education
Each year, the Prince George’s County Office of Human Resource Management hosts the Summer Youth Employment Program.
In the summer of 2024, NEED worked with an incredible team of teachers who facilitated and mentored over 300 Prince George’s County (MD) students via Zoom. Virtual still meant hands-on as students were shipped supplies to their home to engage in learning about solar energy, microgrids and electricity generation, wind energy, efficiency and conservation, and more! They also practiced public speaking activities resume writing skills.
Youth@Work/SYEP is an award winning, nationally recognized program and has been one of the County’s signature programs for more than 30 years. NEED is honored to be part of this program since 2019. We appreciate the continued support of the Prince George’s County Office of Sustainable Energy for making this investment in the county’s future energy workforce.
NEW: ACE-celerate!
August 2024
Rowan College of South Jersey
A three-year collaboration with Rowan College South Jersey and that is supported by Atlantic City Electric, Pepco Holdings Inc., and the Exelon Foundation.
The program kicked off its first year with a two-week camp that offered more than 40 Cumberland County high schoolers the opportunity to learn, explore and test their knowledge in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
The program is designed to give participants a great experience in STEM and energy:
- Engages and prepares participants to consider STEM focused academic & career paths
- Builds STEM knowledge and skills
- Builds leadership, communication, and presentation skills
- Provides participants access to authentic experiences with ACE and local leaders
- Expands participants’ network with others who are interested, pursuing, and working in STEM fields
ComEd STEM Programs are designed to catalyze social change one student at a time by empowering individuals to reimagine possibilities. Through hands-on learning, mentorship, and professional development, ComEd is shaping the leaders of tomorrow and inspiring them to solve present and future problems.
ComEd Create A Spark
The ComEd Create a Spark Program, in partnership with The NEED Project, supports 9th – 12th grade Illinois students through engaging project-based and career-focused STEM activities. These projects are mentored by experienced engineering professionals, who help bridge the gap between STEM activity and
STEM careers. The program empowers students to explore energy, electricity, distribution/transmission, and the technology that helps to build a resilient grid.
Over the four years, participants explore clean energy options from ComEd’s generation portfolio, including nuclear, wind, and solar as well as the impacts
of electricity usage on the environment. With a proven training model, the mentors are provided with very detailed agendas, slides with speaker notes, virtual session training, and videos of training. This sets mentors up for success with background knowledge and engagement to create some great experiences!
In 2024, we continued to develop and facilitate an in-person version of this, previously virtual program. This opened the opportunity of engaging with students in unique locations like ComEd’s Powering Lives Center. This change in formatting has allowed us to explore custom curriculum activities like designing and powering microgrids with functional power poles, racing student-decorated and hand- powered Electric Vehicles, and modeling ComEd’s community solar program through energy efficient home design. The new activities created more substantial final projects for the groups to tackle with the support of their ComEd mentors.
Power of STEM
The Power of STEM Program provides single session STEM programming for grade school through high school students. Each session is themed to STEM topics within the energy industry, including climate change, solar, and microgrid design. Students work with a NEED facilitator and ComEd employee volunteers to explore hands-on activities while learning about real steps being taken by ComEd to create a reliable grid for its customers. This program is focused on supporting students in high-need areas with connections in schools, the Boys and Girls Clubs, and Girls for Science in the Chicagoland and Rockford
areas.
In 2024, this proven program continued to expand. Many organizations that request a Power of STEM presentation sign up for all 3 programs. NEED partnered with Girls 4 Science in 2024 to facilitate all 3 programs concurrently at multiple locations to help bring career-focused STEM experiences to an unprecedent amount of students. The program continues to expand with activities for younger future STEM professionals and increasing topics to meet an increasingly innovative world of energy.
ComEd Scholars Mentor Program
This college-aged program brings future STEM professionals together with ComED mentors. As the mentors and mentees network and learn from one another, they bond and network over a “cup of science” instead of just another “cup of coffee.” Working with their mentors, mentees take on unique STEM challenges that allow them to apply their technical training in a creative way. These STEM activities are themed around topics within the energy industry, and are meant to be explored simultaneously by mentor and mentee. Exploring topics like transmission/distribution, microgrids, generation, transportation, and climate change provides mentor/mentee pairings a chance to connect and learn together. Mentees learn from/with their mentor to apply their knowledge and background in an individualized final challenge. The final challenge asks mentees to expand on the knowledge and topics explored throughout the program.
In 2024, this program has had the opportunity to blend the program with both in-person and online sessions. Being in person allowed the scholars to visit both the ComEd Training Center and Powering Lives Center. Beyond our final challenge, being in-person allowed mentors and mentees to test the efficiency of wind turbines and build their own functional microgrids.
Construct Infrastructure Academy & Tools of the Trade
The Construction and Skilled Trade (CAST) Assessment has become a common licensing test for new hires moving into skilled trades roles within the energy industry. The standardized test four assessment sections: Mathematical Usage, Graphic Arithmetic, Mechanical Concepts, and Reading Comprehension.
The test covers a variety of math skills ranging from arithmetic to applied algebra and geometry, themed physics concepts, and reading comprehension connected to energy industry topics.
In 2024, the NEED project partnered with two ComEd programs to develop curriculum that taught, practiced, and assessed the concepts on the CAST test. Broken into modules, these lessons provide clear visual examples of the topics and practice that focuses on common test questions while building on base math and physics knowledge. To create meaningful connections to the content, hands-on examples of many questions are explored, including simple machines, circuits, density explorations, and transformations of energy. This guided program created significant growth in student assessment success.
The Future of Energy Scholarship
ComEd launched its Future of Energy program and our team at The NEED Project is proud to partner with ComEd and Exelon to expand education and workforce development opportunities and to support the next generation of innovators.
ComEd is opening pathways for students interested in pursuing a career in STEM or the trades through the Future of Energy Scholarship program. To prepare for the wide range of growing clean energy jobs, ComEd offers scholarship funds to use towards college tuition or a trades program.
When available, internships are offered to scholarship winners. Future of Energy Scholarship recipients may apply for renewal annually.
Check out this press release, and learn more here.
LUMA and NEED
LUMA Energy is the power company responsible for power distribution and power transmission in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. LUMA and NEED partner to host the LUMA EV Challenge for 9th – 12th grade girls in Puerto Rico. The 2024 Challenge was hosted in Ponce, Puerto Rico and included partnerships with the Ponce Museum and Universidad Ana G. Mendez.
During a series of 5 sessions, students learned about the forms of energy, the sources of energy, electricity generation and transmission, and energy efficiency. The EV Challenge had students working in small teams to design, engineer, and build an electric go-kart with the help of NEED’s Facilitators and LUMA STEM coaches. The Grande Finale included teams participating In a series of challenges for engineering, teamwork, design, and speed.
Youth Energy Summit
University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore
July 14 - July 19, 2024
A partnership with Constellation, and back for year two, the Youth Energy Summit (Y.E.S) was created to bring together young people who want to be part of the climate change solution and are willing to learn and lead us to a brighter and more sustainable future.
This free opportunity expanded in 2024 to include current 10th and 11th graders (Class of 2025 or 2026) who live in select counties of Illinois, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Participants from the 2023 Summit were invited back for a second year to participate in an Advanced Exploration Track, which provided new opportunities to learn about energy related engineering challenges and policy and energy careers.
Highlights of the week are captured in this video and photos viewable here.
2025 will also see expansions, with an addition of the Y.E.S. Retreat taking place in March for 3rd year participants, expanding capacity for the 2025 Summit in July, and continuing to provide the Advanced Exploration Track for returning students.
Exelon Foundation STEM Academy
The Exelon Foundation STEM Academy is a free, week-long in-person event designed to give young women in high school hands-on experience in STEM, energy, and sustainability. NEED is proud to partner with the Exelon Foundation to make this opportunity available to young women each year in Chicago, Philadelphia and the Washington, D.C./Maryland area.
The experience is aimed to engage and prepare students to consider STEM academic & career paths, build STEM knowledge and skills, practice leadership, communication, and presentation skills. The Academy provides these young women with access to authentic experiences at STEM institutions and Exelon energy facilities.
In 2024, 60 young women from each location were invited to attend the Exelon Foundation STEM Academy in Illinois (University of Illinois Chicago), Maryland (University of Maryland, Baltimore County), Washington, D.C. (University of Maryland, College Park), and Pennsylvania (Drexel University).
This opportunity is at no cost to participants. They got to live on campus throughout the week while working on a STEM challenge to present to a panel of judges, network with employees and executives who work in STEM, tour local energy facilities, and develop valuable leadership skills.
The Chris Crane Memorial Scholarship
The Exelon Foundation Chris Crane Memorial Scholarship was named after Exelon’s former President and CEO who helped establish the scholarship. Eligible students have completed one of the Exelon Foundation’s STEM Academies or Boys to STEM Academies and are starting their journey toward a four year degree and a career in the energy industry. The students selected for the scholarship receive support for tuition, room and board, books, a student abroad program, and opportunities for internships at Exelon and its Operating Companies. Learn more here.
Boys to STEM Academy
July 28 - August 2, 2024
University of Maryland, College Park
New in 2024, the Boys to STEM Academy was created for young men currently in 10th or 11th grade (Class of 2025 or 2026) to embark on a free electrifying week of energy, climate change, and leadership through hands-on projects, a weeklong energy challenge, and immersive experiences that blend STEM with essential leadership skills.
60 young men participated and we look forward to expanding the program to more locations in 2025!
We invite you to read this press release, browse snapshots captured, and learn more about what summer of 2025 will offer.
BGE STEM Into Action Summer Camp
This four-week summer camp was organized by Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE), in partnership with NEED and the Y of Central Maryland.
Specifically designed for Baltimore middle school students, the 2024 program welcomed 24 young girls. STEM into Action provides learning outside of the classroom with hands-on science, tech-based activities, and field trips.
Check out this fun news piece about the summer camp!
BGE CAST Prep Enrichment Program
Students were invited to join BGE, in partnership with NEED, for an inaugural program designed to engage and support students as they prepare to successfully complete the Construction and Skilled Trades (CAST) test as a path toward employment at BGE and across the energy industry. In a series of eight sessions, participants will explore the elements of the CAST test including:
•Graphic Math
•Circuits and Electricity Basics
•Mechanical Concepts
•Reading for Understanding
•Mathematical Usage
•Study Skills and Test Taking Preparation
NEED's Youth Energy Leadership Award
The NEED Project recognizes student leadership by awarding the Youth Energy Leadership Award each year to up to two students who have demonstrated outstanding energy leadership, knowledge, and an interest in continuing their energy studies for the purpose of seeking a career in energy, STEM, or education. Each year, at least one award will be given to a student who plans to enter the energy field or public service related to energy. Select award winners receive a $1,500 check for use for college, university or technical school tuition and expenses.
NEED congratulates Vick Mahindru and Laura Sofía Pardo Arévalo on receiving the 2024 Youth Energy Leadership Award!
Learn more here.
