Mike Aprill and Jason Giordano – Wisconsin Teacher of the Year

Leah Qusba

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May 31, 2013

This post is part of ACE’s Teacher of the Year blog series.

Mike Aprill and Jason Giordano Mike Aprill and Jason Giordano

I am thrilled to nominate Mr. Mike Aprill and Mr. Jason Giordano for ACE Teacher of the Year! Mr. Aprill and Mr. Giordano are the quintessential teacher duo. Inspired by an all-school ACE presentation in 2012, these co-club sponsors empowered their students to create a new branch to the Random Lake Science Club called Project Green. Since the inception of the Project Green initiative, the club has accomplished an absolutely astounding amount of work! So much so that they were recently featured in a local newspaper for their accomplishments.

For starters, Random Lake has the most extensive TerraCycling system that I’ve ever encountered, up-cycling everything from shoes and candy wrappers to juice pouches and Elmer’s glue containers. Mr. Giordano, besides hosting awesome science events like the recent Food & Explosions Night, recently helped students create an Elmer’s glue cellphone case that is simply amazing. The creativity and sheer innovation of these two teachers in absolutely unparalleled.

The list of projects goes on, with the inaugural Green Health & Nutrition Fair that they hosted in the Spring of 2012. This now annual event that brings the community together to learn about healthy, climate-friendly living styles, will take place on Saturday, April 20th, 2013. It’s going to be off-the-hook for sure. Many of the students involved in Mr. Aprill and Mr. Giordano’s classes are participating by submitting creative projects like green fashion designs and solar phone chargers.

Another impressive accomplishment of these two teachers was their recent win in getting produce that their club grows into the cafeteria’s salad bar! Yes, after countless meetings and an incredible effort to build community partnerships to support this goal, Mr. Aprill and Mr. Giordano empowered their students to partner with the school’s cafeteria in providing healthy, local produce for the student body–right from the classroom! This amazing climate solution wouldn’t have been possible without their leadership and unending tenacity.

However, the most memorable and successful of the duo’s accomplishments was their tireless work in getting a wind turbine

The Random Lake High School Recycling Team The Random Lake High School Recycling Team

erected on the school’s property. In just two years, the turbine has produced enough electricity to power 61 households for a full year. This project, as remarkable as it is, received negative feedback from an area anti-wide organization, Communities for Responsible Energy. In classic Random Lake fashion, teachers and students banded together to defend their school’s choice to support a wind-powered, clean energy future. Mr. Hauke, a technical education teacher at the school, wrote and editorial to defend the school’s wind turbine that was recently published in a local newspaper.

Not only did the school rally to support the turbine, but the school also continued moving forward with in-school curricula focusing on renewable energy, brought about largely by the school’s Alternative Energy Committee.

The key piece of this amazing wind turbine success is that Mr. Aprill and Mr. Giordano ran an education campaign to educate the public on both the benefits of renewable energy and what students are getting in the classroom. Their professionalism is unparalleled.

In my nearly four years with ACE, I’ve never encountered two individuals more connected and invested in their students. The brilliance of this duo is their ability to lead by example, but most importantly, empower their students to take full responsibility for meetings, projects, and new initiatives.

Leah Qusba

Leah Qusba

Executive Director

Leah has been a part of ACE since 2009. She lives in Milwaukee with her family and enjoys frequent adventures on Lake Michigan.

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