Tag Archives: electrical safety

11.21.14
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TNCS Elementary Needs Your Vote!

Get Wired!

Last month, Immersed featured The New Century School‘s 3rd- and 4th-grade class visit with Baltimore Gas and Electric—BGE (read that post here). They learned all about electrical safety from three BGE representatives and even got the chance to show off some of their knowledge of electricity during a quiz session.

STEM teacher Dan McGonigal arranged the visit as preparation for his students to conceptualize and create a short video for the third annual BGE Video Challenge! The class’s directorial debut is a remake of BGE’s original “Wires Down” public service announcement, which can be viewed at the above link, where you can also cast your vote.

The contest was designed to promote electric safety among school-age children. A total of 24 elementary schools in BGE’s central Maryland electric service area are competing for a chance to win between $1,000-10,000 to fund a school enrichment project—and TNCS is one of them!

Prizes include:

  • BGE Star Power Award—$10,000
  • BGE Spotlight Award—$5,000
  • BGE Cast and Crew Award (awarded for most student effort)—$3,000
  • BGE Director’s Cut Award (awarded to the most creative entry)—$3000
  • BGE Golden Pipes Award (awarded to best musical performance)—$3,000
  • BGE Screen Gem Award (awarded to best entry in each county)—$1,000
  • Rock The Vote! Award (awarded to the entry with the most votes)—Backpacks and safety gear

In a press release, Chris Burton, vice president of electric operations for BGE said: “We’re excited that every year, new generations of children are introduced to this important safety message and now are taking a part in sharing it with other kids.”

You Can Help!

Videos with the highest overall number of votes plus five merit-based videos will advance to the final judging phase. Online voting opens Monday, November 24, 2014 and runs through December 8, 2014. You can vote three times a day on each device you have access to.

Mr. McGonigal reminds us to “Encourage friends and family to vote as well, especially over the holiday break!”

Vote here (and remember to visit daily!): http://bgevideochallenge.com.

Winners will be announced in January 2015. Go TNCS!

10.31.14
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TNCS Elementary Students To Enter BGE Video Contest!

Wires Down Video Challenge

tncs-elementary-students-welcome-bge

Mr. McGonigal’s 3rd- and 4th-graders welcome BGE to their class.

Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) is running its third annual “Wires Down Video Challenge” among elementary schools in their service area to raise kids’ awareness about the importance of electrical safety, and guess who is participating this year? The New Century School‘s 3rd- and 4th-graders, that’s who!

The contest hearkens back to a widely broadcast BGE commercial from 2000 in which a very catchy, “do not, do not, do not touch” jingle got the message out to thousands of kids about what not to do if they encounter a downed electrical wire. The current video challenge encourages elementary students to create their own 30- to 45-second version of this kid-friendly public service announcement.

This contest is no small potatoes, either—the first-place prize is $10,000! To win, Mr. McGonigal’s STEM class will need to harness all their creative and technical skills as well as demonstrate impeccable teamwork and school spirit. To get the ball rolling, a team of three BGE employees visited TNCS on October 15th to give a presentation on downed wires. After educating the class, Mr. Dave Himlin, Mr. Simon Benjamin, and Miss Faviola Donato-Galindo then quizzed them on electrical power. Correct answers earned the proud students their very own BGE hardhats. Not surprisingly, each of Mr. McGonigal’s science-savvy students was crowned. “Doing these school visits is a lot of fun,” said Mr. Dave. “We all enjoy the kids’ enthusiasm.”

The team from BGE: Mr. Dave, Mr. Simon, and Miss Faviola.
BGE Electrical Safety Presentation
BGE equipment
Mr. Simon begins donning his protective gear for line work.
That’s a lot of protective safety gear!
Mr. Simon demonstrates how he climbs poles to reach wires.
“What kinds of events might cause downed wires?” asked Mr. Dave.
The class is juiced to show their electrical safety knowledge.
Ooh—I know! I know!
TNCS elementary students know their stuff!
The students enjoyed this presentation very much—let’s see what a great video they can produce!
I earned this hat!
tncs-elementary-students-brainstorm-electrical-safety-video

Video brainstorming

“You could win a lot of money for your school,” said Miss Faviola after the presentation. “After the submission period ends, ask your friends and family members to go online and vote for your video.” (We’ll be sure to keep you updated about that process, readers!) “We’ll announce the winners in January,” she said.

With their creative energy sparked, the lucky kids then got to help carry the specialized BGE equipment back out to the work truck and got a chance to sit in the driver’s seat. This truck is called a “boom lift” and is outfitted with a cherry picker on the back to lift engineers as high as 6o feet up to the height of power lines.

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They have until November 14th to get their video submission in, so send them all your positive “energy”! Shooting begins this week!

Quick Facts:  

• At least one winning school will be chosen from each participating county.

• Since the contest’s inception, BGE has awarded $50,000 to fund school enrichment programs.

• Possible awards include:

  • BGE Star Power Award – $10,000
  • BGE Spotlight Award – $5,000
  • BGE Cast and Crew Award (awarded for most student effort) – $3,000
  • BGE Director’s Cut Award (awarded to the most creative entry) – $3000
  • BGE Golden Pipes Award – (awarded to best musical performance) – $3,000
  • BGE Screen Gem Award (awarded to best entry in each county) – $1,000
  • Rock The Vote! Award (awarded to the entry with the most votes) – Backpacks and safety gear

• Visit BGE’s Electrical Safety page for more information on how to stay safe near energy equipment.

• Report downed power lines to BGE immediately by calling 1.800.685.0123.

• BGE turns 200 years old June 17, 2016 and is both the oldest gas utility in the country and one of Maryland’s longest-running businesses.