The electric vehicle charging port was installed on March 11 near the entrance of the Andover High School field house.
There is a Schoology page that directs those who are interested in charging their vehicle to a spreadsheet to sign up for a time slot. There is a morning session and an afternoon session. If a student’s car is fully charged, they can get a pass from Assistant Principal Scott Darlington to move their car. This way, another person can fill their spot.
COURTESY PHOTO / Eva McKone) Environmental Club Co-President Eva McKone shows off the new EV charging port
“We charge a flat rate of $1 per hour,” stated Eva Mckone, co-president of the Environmental Club. “However, after hours, it may be a little bit more or less depending on the different time of day.”
Darlington has an electric vehicle and has been using the charger often since the installation. “We’re trying to make sure that it breaks even. So I figured by charging that hopefully, I’ll set, like, an example that hopefully other people that have cars with a plug on it will come in to charge.”
ChargePoint, the company that supplied the EV charging port, has an app where users can find charging stations and if they’re available to use. AHS chose to work with ChargePoint “because they have a nice network and software that works really well in addition to the charger,” said Darlington.
Currently, AHS has one Chargepoint Dual Charger that can charge two vehicles at once. “If we do have great success with this and think that there’s going to be more opportunity by installing another one, we definitely will consider installing another charger,” said McKone excitedly.
The Environmental Club partnered with Tree-Plenish, a nonprofit organization, to plant 225 trees around Andover to offset the paper usage at Andover High School.
This was the second annual tree-planting event, and it took place over April break on Saturday. Prior to that, anyone could donate $5 to buy a tree for the Bellevue Reservation or other small reservations in Andover, or even for their own homes. The Environmental Club’s goal was to counteract climate change by planting trees to reduce carbon emissions. This year, they succeeded in offsetting about 2.25 million sheets of paper.
In addition to reducing carbon emissions, planting trees also helps counteract heat islands, which occur when structures like buildings and roads re-emit the sun’s heat more than natural landscapes such as forests and bodies of water. These urbanized areas soak up all of the heat and cause the surrounding area to become a lot warmer than an area with a lot of greenery.
Eva McKone, co-president of the Environmental Club, said that “heat islands are prominent in Andover” and this event is “just kind of a way to give back to the community.”
“I think [the event] really contributes to making Andover a greener place and making Andover High School a more carbon-neutral school,” said Sadie Rooney, vice president of the Environmental Club.
Another, more involved way of supporting the fundraiser was to volunteer by delivering and planting trees yourself. Groups, most consisting of two people, went out and helped the Environmental Club plant trees all over Andover. The trees, which were still saplings, were about two feet tall. The three species planted were Dogwood, American Sycamore, and Paper Birch.
COURTESY PHOTO / Eva McKone Junior Amelia Hanscom, Vice President Sadie Rooney, and freshman William Yu plant trees at a reservation
Melanie Cutler, a teacher advisor of the Environmental Club, said that the majority of her role in the event was supporting. She said that McKone and Courtney Duffy, co-presidents of the club, along with Rooney, did the planning and the organization. Though Cutler let the students run the show, that didn’t stop her from donating and buying trees herself.
Cutler remembered, “I got, I think, five last year, and then my well-meaning neighbor mowed our lawn for us. Right after, he killed all the trees I planted, so I had to buy some more this year.”
Jake Chisholm, a junior in the Environmental Club, donated and planted trees as well. At one of the locations, he planted trees for a woman buying trees for her entire neighborhood. The way the fundraiser is set up allows people in the community to create connections with one another. It offered an opportunity for the volunteers to talk to the people of Andover and explain the purpose of the fundraiser and its goals.
“Maybe you donate to a college or something like that, you don’t see the change, physically happen. But even just looking outside and seeing their tree grow over time, they’re gonna be able to see that change happen right in front of them,” said Chisholm.
The Andover High School Environmental Club is resuming progress on electric vehicle charging stations after a year’sdelay.
Over the past year, the AHS Environmental Club has been working with Andover’s sustainability coordinator, Dr. Losick-Yang,to install 100 percent renewable electric vehicle charging stations (EV charging stations) near the field house. The club was waiting for approval of a state grant called MassEVIP, which gave AHS charging stations for free. Now having that approval, things are moving forward.
The project started at the beginning of school last year. The foundations and wires were installed in the summer and early fall and ChargePoint, the company the Environmental Club is working with, will ship the chargers to AHS. Each charger is a Dual-Port Station, meaning it’s one station that charges two vehicles.
Eva Mckone, Co-President of the Environmental Club, stated that “as of early spring, they’re actually gonna start digging the ground [for the EV charging stations].”
The chargers will be powered by the energy that is used by AHS.
“The school is powered by 100% solar from western Mass,” said Mckone. “Power from the school would transfer to the chargers so it would be 100% renewable.”
STAFF PHOTO / Angela Mac Environmental Club co-presidents Courtney Duffy (left) and Eva McKone (right) stand by the wires for AHS’ future EV charging stations
Members of the AHS Environmental Club have worked together to make this project come to life. A small group from the club negotiated and developed a pricing strategy and created a proposal for the town that was approved by the Andover School Committee. Losick-Yang wrote the grant application for the EV charging stations. Alongside Losick-Yang, the AHS Environmental Club worked closely with Janet Nicosia, director of facilities for Andover.
The EV charging station at AHS will be a public area for anyone to use, not just students and faculty of AHS. Along with being public, EV charging stations are much faster than the chargers some may have at home.
John Jannetti, another Environmental Club advisor, said that “[his] charger at home is very, very slow [and] it takes 6 and half hours to get a 25-mile charge. These charging stations [take] two hours.”
The rise of electric vehicle ownership is also one of the reasons AHS has decided to install these chargers.
Currently, there will only be one EV charging station installed but it is possible AHS will install more in the future.
Melanie Cutler, a club advisor of the Environmental Club, emphasized that “we have to prove first that [the EV charging station] is viable, and that the town’s not going to lose money on the deal.” Cutler stated, “we tried to come up with a dollar amount that would break even so that it pays for itself.” Those that use the EV charging station will have to pay a fee each time they use it. This money will cover the cost of the expenses that were used to install it.
Minda Reidy is a teacher that owns a Tesla and has a charger at home. Running out of battery isn’t a concern of hers since her commute to school is very short. However, Reidy knows people that “have had to use [her] charger because they didn’t have one available [at AHS], so [having one at AHS] would make things a lot easier.” Once installed, the EV charging station will benefit those that have electric vehicles but also those that plan on buying one in the future.
Editor’s note: As of March 21, 2022, the electric charging stations have been installed at AHS
