Charles Suppon has big plans for the Tunkhannock Area School District.
At any given time, the northeastern Pennsylvania district’s chief operating officer can rattle off statistics about fields in which its schools excel: arts, AP classes, and softball, as well as on-the-job training programs for future farmers, welders, and more. Goats and chickens roam the high school’s courtyards, where students also tend to koi fish; in the hallways just beyond, high schoolers tinker with tractors, build furniture to sell, and offer free tax services for the broader community.
But Suppon speaks with vigor when he talks about the 5-megawatt system he hopes to install across five solar arrays on the district’s buildings and surrounding property. The solar panels will heat the district’s pool and serve as the basis for new curricula and jobs training classes on the solar industry. For a rural district of around 2,000, Tunkhannock is punching above its weight class, he believes.
“We’re a smaller school district doing big t... Read more
