Kai was part of the YES! team at Mankato West his sophomore, junior and senior years (2014-2017). During his time as a member of the Mankato West YES! team, Kai worked on many projects including water bottle fillers that they added to their school's water fountains, performing an audit of their school's electrical consumption and waste management, replacing lightbulbs in their high school building
Mankato West
Youth Make Sustainable Connections at Gustavus Adolphus College
By YES! Coordinator Katelyn Larsen Students from the Mankato West, Minnesota New Country School, and Sleepy Eye YES! teams came together on March 2, 2016 to learn about sustainability from sourcing materials to end use. Students began the day by learning about and touring the sustainable practices in place at Gustavus Adolphus College from Jim Dontje, Chair and Director of the Johnson Center for
Mankato West Saves Money through Light Retrofitting
Following a school-wide electricity audit conducted by the Mankato West YES! team, students got together on May 6, 2015 to change out the 32 Watt bulbs that last 24,000 hours to 28 Watt bulbs that last 55,000 hours. With four crews of students using rolling scaffolding and step ladders, they were able to replace 264 light bulbs that night. See a time-lapse of their efforts here. This project was
YES! Announces 2014-2015 Award Winners!
YES! Awards 2014-2015 YES! teams all did great work this season! We recently concluded the YES! judging for the 2014-2015 season. YES! awards were presented within each cohort. Unless otherwise noted, 1st Place winners received $750; 2nd Place winners received $500; 3rd Place winners received $250. See what each team accomplished by reading more on the Teams page. Southern Cohort 1st: Sleepy
Building Sustainably with Alternate Energies in Rochester
Students were challenged to define sustainability during the recent "Building Sustainably with Alternate Energies" Winter Workshop held at Cascade Meadow Wetlands and Environmental Science Center in Rochester. 16 students and 2 coaches from the Mankato West and Pine Island YES! teams enjoyed an education-filled day at a beautiful location where they learned from the technologies the building
Mankato West team in the news
Representative Tim Walz visited Mankato West High School recently to talk about energy and the environment. He also got to hear from some YES! students about the great work they are doing to eradicate polystyrene trays from their school cafeteria. The Mankato West YES! students have calculated that their school is currently throwing away around 135,000 trays per school year! Come May, all of