Local fourth graders learn about energy efficiency, electrical safety

Stearns Electric Association presented Energy Education and Safety Demonstrations to fourth-graders Jan. 29 at Riverview Intermediate School.

Employees from Stearns Electric Association visited fourth-graders in Sartell to share messages of electrical safety and information on the energy industry.

As part of Stearns Electric’s commitment to safety and community, the cooperative presents an annual one-hour energy efficiency and safety demonstration to fourth-grade classrooms throughout its service territory.

Stearns Electric’s live, energized home-and-farm model serves as the highpoint of each presentation. Used as a tool to show what can happen when someone gets too close to electrical equipment, students were fascinated with the electrical sparks and arc flashes demonstrated on the model.

The most important piece of safety information students walk away from the presentation with is the knowledge of how to react in a vehicle accident involving any electrical equipment. As the fourth-graders in Sartell can tell you, you should always stay in your vehicle if it hits a power pole, unless your vehicle is on fire. If your vehicle is on fire near a power pole or other electrical equipment, you should jump out of your vehicle, keeping your feet together and your arms crossed, and shuffle as far away from the accident as you can.

Following each demonstration, one lucky student was selected to dress up as a line worker. Donning a hard hat, rubber gloves, pole climbers, safety glasses and a utility belt, these students get to experience the real-life equipment line workers use daily.

Prior to the presentations, students learned about basic electricity principles as part of their school curriculum. Throughout the one-hour sessions, students reviewed the things they had learned, including the different types of electricity, conductors and insulators, and sources of energy.