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Making science fun
See how Carolyn Zheng, a fifth grader at Gold Hill Elementary School in Fort Mill, won the 2020 Children’s Book Challenge.
Photo by Erin Powell
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Watch the April web conference held to announce the winner of the 2020 Children’s Book Challenge.
What happens when you ask fourth and fifth graders across South Carolina to study electricity, then share what they know with other kids by writing and illustrating books on the subject? It turns out you get some very creative ways to teach science and technology.
The Children’s Book Challenge—sponsored by EnlightenSC, an educational initiative of the state’s independent, consumer-owned electric cooperatives—is an annual competition that asks students to explore the impact of electricity on their lives, communities and the state.
“South Carolina’s electric cooperatives have been committed to powering rural communities since 1938,” says Lindsey Smith, vice president for education at The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, Inc. “This concern for communities, and the future of our youth, has carried forward to today. By inspiring students to learn more about energy in our state, S.C.’s electric co-ops hope to spark a passion for critical thinking in the minds of tomorrow’s leaders.”
Carolyn Zheng, a fifth grader at Gold Hill Elementary School in Fort Mill, won the 2020 Children’s Book Challenge (and a $500 cash prize) for her entry, When Wind Meets Windmill.
Her book, which explains how windmills generate clean, renewable energy, was selected as a regional winner by her local co-op, York Electric. A panel of judges gave it top honors from a field of eight regional finalists.
“The judges were impressed with the quality of both the story and illustrations Carolyn created for her book,” says Porter Gable of York Electric Cooperative. “She’s a gifted artist and writer at a young age, and electric co-ops are pleased to be able to recognize and reward her work.”
When Wind Meets Windmill will be published and distributed to elementary schools throughout the state. During a live video conference announcing her win, Zheng explained her approach to the challenge.
“I had in mind to make it a little comic,” she says. “So, I drew these two characters, the windmill and the wind, to make it more fun to read.”
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Get More
Download a PDF version of Carolyn Zheng’s winning book When Wind Meets Windmill at SCLiving.coop/book-challenge.
For more information on the Children’s Book Challenge and other educational programs sponsored by South Carolina’s electric cooperatives, visit enlightensc.org.