Committing to the overall well-being of the environment is something I view as an extremely important aspect of my everyday life. My husband and I are very focused on conserving energy whenever we can in ways such as not leaving lights on, not running the AC when it isn't necessary, and recycling what we can. During my time in the Cherokee County School System, this practice of saving and conserving energy was something that I found the system as a whole strived for. The district put into place an energy conservation program that outlined exactly what we should be doing each day as well as over short and long breaks in order to conserve the most energy as possible. While their motives may have been based more on saving money in some instances, I truly believe that this drive to save and conserve energy also came from a commitment to being responsible for the environment through energy saving practices. 
This program also served as a great way to communicate with the public Cherokee County Schools’ value of energy saving practices. A report was generated each month showing how much energy was saved, how much money was saved by following the program’s guidelines, and what we were doing to ensure the program guidelines were being met by each school. This report was sent out to the stakeholders to ensure that the schools within Cherokee County were being held accountable to their commitment to this program and its directives. I believe Cherokee County puts this report out there to the public to ensure they are the ones sharing the story and showcasing positive points about the schools to the public. This is an important practice because as Sheninger (2019) states, “If you don’t tell your story, someone else will. More often than not, when someone else tells your story, it is one that you don’t want told” (p.179). To go further with this idea, Centre Middle School, a school within Cherokee County, has posted via their social media pages different stories of how students as well as teachers are practicing energy saving methods throughout the school. “Stories by far are the best way to begin the process of shifting the way stakeholders perceive schools” (Sheninger, 2019, p.181).
I believe that by coming up with this program, Cherokee County Schools have been able to streamline their thinking of conservation of energy within each school in their system. They ensure they are communicating with the school when there are changes to the program as well as when specific perimeters within the guidelines are not being followed by certain schools. This communication with the schools is absolutely necessary to ensure all schools are sticking with the commitment their system has made. Coursera (2023) explains “Good communication in the workplace ensures employees have the information they need to perform well, builds a positive work environment, and eliminates inefficiencies.” By ensuring that they are communicating with the schools on their expectations as well as when schools are exceeding those expectations or struggling with them, helps to ensure their employees are aware of what they need to continue or start doing to perform how they are expected to. Not only that but “Effective workplace communication helps maintain the quality of working relationships and positively affects employees' well-being” (Plaza & Windon, 2022).
Overall I am proud to have been a participant in Cherokee County Schools’ initiative to conserve more energy. I feel like by the openness of communication between the program’s administrator and the schools within the system I was able to adequately follow the expectations of the district as well as open my eyes to how much of an impact the conservation of energy has. I also see that this important decision helped to share a positive light on the schools in Cherokee County for the public to see. For any schools wanting to implement a program such as this or anyone looking for better energy saving practices for their school, I am attaching a copy of the Cherokee County energy conservation program document below as well as a video with helpful tips.
References
Coursera Staff (2023, December 1). Why is workplace communication important? and how to improve it. Coursera. https://www.coursera.org/articles/workplace-communication
Plaza, C. H., & Windon, S. (2022, July 5). Effective communication in the workplace. Penn State Extension. https://extension.psu.edu/effective-communication-in-the-workplace
Sheninger, E. C. (2019). Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times. A joint publication of Corwin ICLE.
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ReplyDeleteI like the idea of the school system being transparent about its commitment to saving energy! As Sheinger states, don't just discover opportunities, but also build doors to welcome it in (2019). Energy efficiency schools have a unique opportunity to teach students on energy efficiencies who can take that knowledge to home (2023). Your post makes me think of ways I can do better at saving energy. For example, I am known for taking a long shower or running the water while brushing my teeth. This initiative sounds like something we all can get aboard with. Furthermore,
ReplyDeleteEnergy Efficiency for Schools. Shipley Energy. (2023, December 22). https://www.shipleyenergy.com/resources/commercial/energy-efficiency-for-schools/
Sheninger, E. (2019). Digital Leadership: Changing paradigms for changing times(2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Tomeka Jones
It sounds like your district is really excels at communication. This conservation program sounds like a great idea. It also sounds like a wonderful way to model good behaviors for students and the community. After reading your post, I reflected on what Sheninger (2019) said about buy-in versus embracement: Embracement occurs through empowerment while buy-in is usually done through a sales pitch that might include rewards. The communication strategies employed by the leaders of the initiative seemed to have helped in making the initiative successful. Hubbart (2023) found that establishing clear and consistent communication, practicing transparency, building trust through active listening and responsiveness, increasing the awareness and accountability for organizational values, and communicating the benefits of change are critical components for a successful change initiative.
ReplyDeleteReferences
Hubbart, J. A. (2023). Organizational change: The challenge of change aversion. Administrative Sciences, 13(7), 162-170.
Sheninger, E. (2019). Digital leadership: Changing paradigms for changing times (2nd ed.). Corwin; International Center for Leadership in Education.
This sounds like a wonderful initiative for any school system to begin! I liked how Centre Middle took the initiative one step further and put their own personal spin on how they were using the conservation initiative to better their school. In Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times, Sheninger states that we not only have to think about the "e" (engagement) in FACE (family and community engagement), but also eFACE (electronic family and community engagement) as well. I believe that Centre Middle is a prime example of using eFACE to it's potential.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the article, Information technology and Gen Z: The role of teachers, the internet, and technology in the education of young people, "the importance of online technology is especially emphasized in new methods for learning and education. This is particularly important among Generation Z (“Gen Z ′′ ), which derives knowledge from the Internet and is focused on a quick search of information" (Andrzej et al., 2021). We must keep this in mind when communicating with younger stakeholders and students.
Andrzej Szymkowiak, Boban Melović, Marina Dabić, Kishokanth Jeganathan, Gagandeep Singh Kundi,
Information technology and Gen Z: The role of teachers, the internet, and technology in the education of young people,
Technology in Society, Volume 65, 2021, 101565, ISSN 0160-791X,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2021.101565.
Sheninger, E. (2019). Digital leadership: Changing paradigms for changing times (2nd ed.). Corwin; International Center for Leadership in Education.