01 Dec 2017
Students at Dubbo College South Campus now have the opportunity to charge their mobile phones at morning tea and lunch times, with a specialised solar-powered charging station set up near the school canteen.
The innovation was researched, designed and developed by Year 10 science students, under the guidance of science teacher Joshy Alexander and TAS teacher Peter Dickson.
The project was funded through a $2,000 STEM grant as part of the Fair Education program, which required a written application by the teachers.
A range of Dubbo College projects were funded under the program, with further STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) funding available for the next two years.
Mr Dickson said the school strictly supervised the use of mobile phones but their existence and importance to students and parents was a reality of modern-day life.
"Our students are not able to use their phones in class but they are a critical part of their lives providing contact with their families," he said.
"We thought it would be good to set up this charging station, which contains 20 ports, for students with phones that may be running low on charge.
"As a project it met all the criteria of STEM, with the ultimate plan to use renewable energy to provide this service to students.
"With the help of our general assistant Darrell Hines, we've placed a solar panel on the school roof, with generated sun-power running through a regulator to the docking bay.
"We also have a battery in line to store the power generated by the sun.
"Another part of the project is to design and develop a wind turbine as an alternative source of power."
Year 9 student Haylee Burton said the mobile phone charging station was very convenient and she would definitely make use of it before school, at recess and lunch time.
Fellow student Lachlan Donovan from Year 7 said he was impressed that the facility was powered from renewable energy and was extremely cost-efficient.
"I think it's a great idea and I will definitely be making use of it," he said.
"It's a good project and something that will really benefit students at South Campus."