Eastern Panhandle teacher takes lessons out of the textbook and into students' hands

A Jefferson High School science teacher is hoping to get her students energized with some hands-on learning projects.

Kelly Wolf, an earth science and physics teacher, attended a seminar recently so her students could learn the difference between reading from textbooks and doing hands-on classwork.


A dozen teachers from middle, high and career technical schools across West Virginia attended the W.Va. Educators Power Up for Classroom Energy Pilot in Charleston, W.Va., earlier this month.

Wolf was the only Eastern Panhandle teacher to attend, according to the state’s Department of Education. She signed up for the program after reading an e-mail about it from the board of education’s science coordinator.

“They were looking for people to pilot the project,” she said.

Her 11th- and 12th-grade students will work on two projects that Wolf selected, a cooling system and a natural gas pipeline.

In one project, her students will portray heating and cooling engineers hired to build a cooling system for a proposed new coal-powered electric generating station. In the second, they will be mechanical engineers working on a 200-mile natural gas line across Alaska, including recommendations for its route.

The students will research and write their own design proposals and build two working models based on what they’ve learned. They’ll also have to be adept at using a computer base, Wolf said.

“The students will realize that not everything comes out of a book, that there may or may not be a right answer in the real world,” she said.

“They’re excited about it,” Wolf said, “especially as they see the materials coming in and what they’re going to be working with.”

Wolf received a $2,800 grant to buy materials and supplies.

“I spent a lot of time online with vendors to buy PVC pipe, brass fittings, water flow sensors, heater cores, hose and safety glasses,” she said.

The students will have to document all of their work, including notes from brainstorming sessions, their calculations and design ideas.

Once the projects are completed, students will have to show how their models work as well as defend their work, Wolf said.

The project will take much of the rest of the semester.

The courses were developed by American Electric Power and the Southern Regional Education Board.

Wolf, a national board-certified teacher, has been teaching at Jefferson High School for 12 years. She lives in Inwood, W.Va., with her husband, Kerry.