NEW CASTLE TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Students are always staying busy at Schuylkill Technology Center North Campus near Frackville. One of the topics they've been studying lately is solar energy.
"We depend too much on power plants and so forth, and by capturing natural energy, we're actually taking energy that's there all the time and converting it into energy that we can use," said Electro-mechanical instructor Phil Cimino.
During national STEM week, electro-mechanical students here installed these wind turbines outside the school, which will send power into the classroom and also serve as a useful tool for students to learn about alternative energy sources.
"If we can capture natural resources and turn it into the needs that we have, we're actually saving money by doing that," said Cimino.
And this is a subject matter that students here have enjoyed learning about and say will be useful in the future because of the rise of solar energy.
"It's good to make extra money. It's good to have your own power source without having to pay through someone else," said student William Strickland.
"It's awesome to have it. It's something I can learn about and advance in many ways in the field. I can go wherever I wanted to, to college, so I could help other people out with it," said Damien Gigli.
"It's all helping us learn more and how we can help the environment and help everyone out. And it can help lead us to greater things," Benjamin Martinez said.
Students add they're energized, knowing they have a little bit of a background in solar energy.