Students press for solar and energy assessment; SEL team reports positive sense-of-belonging results

Students and advisers from the Earthrise Club presented projects to the Mineral Point board and described recent activities — Adopt‑a‑Highway cleanup, a solar tractor demonstration, recycling improvements and a student petition asking the district to pursue a comprehensive energy‑use assessment.

"I entered in the contest with a proposal to use solar on schools," said Kalea, a sophomore and FBLA president, describing how student proposals and sustained activism helped lead to grant participation. Students said their petition collected 258 signatures from middle‑ and high‑school students, and administration confirmed the district joined a multi‑school grant from the state's Office of Energy Innovation to pay for a comprehensive energy assessment of the building.

During a separate presentation the district's social‑emotional learning team reported results from a new elementary sense‑of‑belonging survey: on one benchmark question, 86.2% of respondents agreed that "there are adults at my school that care about me." SEL staff described continuing Sources of Strength curriculum in selected classrooms, plans for summer training to expand implementation and an intention to form a district SEL team in August with a fall shape assessment.

Trustees asked how anonymous surveys would allow targeted interventions and how the district will follow up when students self‑identify needs; SEL staff said some students left names on the forms and staff will follow up with identified students, and that tiered screening tools (third–fifth grade) remain in use to connect students with small‑group or individual supports.

Why it matters: Student-led sustainability efforts influenced district participation in an energy-assessment grant, which could lead to capital or operational changes. SEL survey results indicate broad student perception of adult support and inform district plans for mental‑health programming.

Next steps: Administration and the students will coordinate grant-funded assessment work and report back; SEL staff will expand training and present data from districtwide screenings and follow-up interventions later in the year.