Students in Liz Meldrum's kindergarten class at Mossyrock Elementary School hold certificates that commemorate the class's victory in TransAlta's kinder scholarship competition. Each student earns a $2,500 scholarship to be held in trust until their graduation.
Students in Liz Meldrum's kindergarten class at the Mossyrock Elementary School hold certificates that commemorate the class's victory in TransAlta's scholarship competition.
Liz Meldrum, kindergarten teacher at the Mossyrock Elementary school, holds a display check for $3,000, awarded to her class for winning the TransAlta scholarship competition Monday morning.
A kindergarten student explores a basket of treats which was part of the award given to the class that won TransAlta's scholarship competition at the Mossyrock Elementary School Monday morning.
Principal Randy Torrey escorts kindergarten students into the school's library for the announcement of the victor of TransAlta's scholarship competition at the Mossyrock Elementary school Monday morning.
TransAlta's Michael Wagar, left, announces that Liz Meldrum's kindergarten class at the Mossyrock Elementary School had won the company's scholarship competition Monday morning.
MOSSYROCK — Parents of students in Liz Meldrum’s morning kindergarten received a surprise phone call around 8 a.m. Monday. Mossyrock Elementary School representatives were calling to ask them to come in for a secret presentation within the hour.
“I got butterflies and I thought, ‘You’ve gotta be kidding me. It’s obviously good news,’” said April Kaech, who has a 5-year-old son in kindergarten.
Kaech arrived along with about a dozen other parents and grandparents to learn their kids had each earned a $2,500 scholarship from their project in TransAlta’s eco-challenge.
“I don’t have any doubt that every one of you will do some form of higher education,” Meldrum told her kindergartners with tears streaming down her face.
Representatives of TransAlta, the Canadian power company with a coal-fired power plant near Centralia, chose the top 10 green projects from 42 participating classrooms and randomly drew Mossyrock from the top 10 for the grand prize.
TransAlta representatives said the contest demonstrates the company’s commitment to transitioning to cleaner energy by 2025, the date by which the rural Centralia utility must give up coal as a power source.
The Mossyrock students were chosen out of about 900 kindergarteners to receive the $2,500 upon graduation in 2025.
“This is a defining moment where they realize they have money for their dreams,” Meldrum said. “They already have part of their goal obtained.”
Meldrum’s 19 kindergartners planted 65 Douglas fir trees in the rain at Ike Kinswa State Park near Mayfield Lake to learn about the environment and animal habitats.
“They were digging right in there and planting,” said Randy Torrey, principal at Mossyrock Elementary. “This is probably the first money that’s been established for them so it’s a great award.”
The students then sent “treegrams” or letters to the other elementary students to involve them in the green project.
“The kindergarteners’ focus was the animals because they live in the trees,” Meldrum said.
The kids sent 144 trees home with other students so they could plant them using a tree planting guide written and illustrated by the kindergarteners.
“It went from the classroom to home. We made habitats for everything,” said Angie Shipp, who has a 6-year-old in the class. “This is a nice head start.”
Shipp and Kaech, like many parents in Mossyrock, said they had not yet set aside money for college.
“So it’s a great opportunity for for a rural community to have the chance to go ahead with further education,” Kaech said. “It gives them hope knowing they can accomplish their dream.”
TransAlta also presented Meldrum with a $3,000 check for her class and the school to spend on educational supplies and projects. Each of the top 10 classrooms will receive $1,000 for the school and $500 for the class. All participating classrooms will earn a reward party sponsored by TransAlta and passes to the Southwest Washington Fair. TransAlta will have a booth at the fair with poster boards from each project on display.
“We hear a lot of doom and gloom about the upcoming generation,” said Michael Wagar, a contest judge and external communications advisor at TransAlta. “If these 900 kids are any indication of our future, we’re in great hands.”
TransAlta’s future, however, remains unclear as on-peak power prices have plunged 75 percent in the Pacific Northwest this year.
“Prices are at a historic low,” Wagar said about news reports detailing the electricity market. “We’re heading into some interesting energy trends.”
In addition to lower power prices, the Centralia utility is facing difficulty contracting power, which has contributed to some $36 million less in operational funds in the first quarter, according to the Bloomberg news service.
Plummeting utility prices, increased maintenance costs and the bill for shutting down coal operations contributed to TransAlta Corporation’s bonds performing the poorest when compared with their peers this quarter.
The Calgary-based corporation reported first-quarter earnings of 20 cents a share, down 14 cents from last year, according to Bloomberg.
Wagar said these trends will not affect the company’s transition to cleaner energy. TransAlta will shut down one coal-fired boiler by 2020 and the second by 2025.
“We’re well positioned to run and be a profitable company,” he said.
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Amy Nile: (360) 807-8235
