Beltrami Electric is making it easier for area schools to teach about electricity and electric cooperatives. Through a partnership between Touchstone Energy Cooperatives and Discovery Channel School, the co-op embarked on a campaign to ensure that middle and junior high school students throughout its service area receive a quality education on electricity - from its beginnings to its importance in today's world. By streamlining the vast amounts of information on electricity and the important role cooperatives played in bringing this commodity to rural America, students are able to easily digest the lesson plans in this educational campaign.

Through this community outreach program - called Get Charged! Electricity and You -   Beltrami Electric provides middle and junior high schools with a comprehensive kit of educational materials focusing on electricity, a component of the National Academy of Science's National Science Education Standards (NSES). While individual states differ in their implementation and assessment of standards, they often base those for science topics on the NSES. Developed by teachers, scientists, science educators and other experts, the standards for grades K-12 describe what students should understand and be able to do in various science categories.

 "Providing our local schools with an effective educational resource on electricity and the vital efforts rural electric co-ops put forth in bringing power to the people all across America exemplifies our commitment to community," said Cindy Gannon, communications specialist for Beltrami Electric. "By investing in our local students' education, we ensure that our customers, both households and businesses, can continue to count on us to provide them with more than just electricity," she said.

  Each Get Charged! kit contains the following educational materials:

• Poster for classroom use
• Two Videos: Understanding Electricity and Touchstone Energy's Our Story
• Interactive CD-ROM featuring electricity
• Lesson Plan: Get Power - The Cooperative Way
• 10 Student Activity Books
• Electricity Teachers Resource Guide
• Customizable letter to parents and schools explaining the educational program

"Our involvement in Touchstone Energy Cooperatives' partnership with Discovery Channel School allows us to participate with the many other electric co-ops committing educational resources to the schools co-ops serve," said Gannon.