The Effingham County School System congratulates the staff and faculty from Rincon Elementary for the job they did in shutting down their school for the 2009 winter holidays.

To recognize the school’s efforts, Energy Specialist Eric Harris presented Dr. Paige Dickey with the first “Lamp Award” at a principals’ meeting on Jan. 29.

“I walked through all of the schools over the winter break,” Harris said, “and Rincon Elementary was the quietest, darkest school I saw. I can honestly say that there is still room for improvement and Rincon did not run away with the award.

“It was very close and all of the schools did a fantastic job shutting down for the holidays,” Harris continued.

Harris issues a shutdown challenge to the schools each time school is not in session for an extended period of time and he has developed an equitable method for assessing the quality of long shutdown periods at the schools.

“Shutdowns are a major part of our program,” he said. “Anytime we can get our meters to stop we need to take advantage of it.
“The employees at all our Effingham County schools have worked very hard to make our program successful. I’m glad I can take a little time to reward them for the work they do.”

The Effingham County School System’s energy management program has resulted in $1,137,000 in savings since its inception in February 2008.