Gate City High School’s 4-H Energy Team won numerous local, state, and national awards for the National Energy Education Development (NEED) Youth Project Awards. In fall of 2025, 4-H partnered with each high school in Scott County to facilitate 4-H Energy Week using curriculum provided by NEED. During this week, students collaborated in small groups to learn about energy transformations through hands-on labs. The week concluded with an Energy House Challenge where youth were tasked to build a cost-effective and energy-efficient model house. This weeklong program was the launching point for developing a 4-H Energy Team at each high school; though effort was placed at each school, Gate City High School was the only school to recruit members for this year. Mrs. Dawn Williams and Mrs. Donna Rowlett coached the following team members: Amira Farmer, Aidan Freeman, Constance Woody, Nathaniel Gilliam, and Braylon Ford.
For this year’s project, team members set a goal to increase their understanding in energy; members participated in a field trip to the Clinch River AEP Generation plant and explored the Gate City High School boiler room. Another goal set by members was to conduct an energy audit to understand how much energy went into common appliances in the school; Robert Sallee, Scott County Maintenance Supervisor, assisted youth in conducting the energy audit for GCHS classrooms. Team members also set a goal to expand energy literacy. Team members facilitated educational energy activities for 33 youth in a 6th grade class at Shoemaker Elementary and at the Scott County Gifted and Talented Education Program STEM Day. The GCHS 4-H Energy Team project won the following awards: Virginia Senior Level School of the
Year, Finalist National Senior Level School of the Year, Senior Level Rookie of the Year, & Exemplary Energy Engineering and Design Project.
Due to their achievements, the team will be recognized at the 46th Annual NEED Youth Energy Conference & Awards June 26 – 29, 2026 in Washington D.C. The team received $3,000 from Virginia Energy sponsors to attend the conference. We are still seeking additional funds to cover some of the cost; if you are interested in sponsoring this program, contact Kasey Fioramonti (
[email protected] or 276.452.2772).