Looking for help with this web site? See our site tour. Need help with a specific issue? Contact us
What is EnergyTeachers.org?
History
Shawn Reeves, a physics teacher, started EnergyTeachers.org early in 2004. Stephen Cremer, also a physics teacher, and Beth Bounds, a chemistry teacher, joined with Shawn to form a non-profit corporation in Boston, Massachusetts, November 2004. Shawn runs the daily operations of the organization in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and represents ETO at teacher events across the nation.
Our organization has developed innovative projects to serve unique needs in energy education, some of our most widely acclaimed being our Field Trip Guide, first published in 2007; our Green Dollhouse Challenge, piloted in 2012; ongoing solar cooking workshops for teachers, schools, and the public; and developing ideas for teaching with electronic circuits.
Mission
EnergyTeachers.org (ETO) offers help to educators at all levels, formal and informal, interested in teaching about energy production and use. Services include this web site, face-to-face meetings, newsletters, a lending library, reviews of lesson plans, and other tailored services.
Constantly measuring what other entities are doing to develop energy education, ETO finds empty niches and creates innovative projects in energy education relating to arts, technology, writing, information science, and engineering.
ETO also works with numerous other organizations and government agencies, seeking every opportunity to incorporate appropriate topics into our lessons. Shawn likes to say "If it has to do with energy, and we could discuss it in any classroom, we want to know about it." We take all relevant information from other organizations and present it here in an organized way, from workshops to news to lesson ideas.
Operations
Our greatest accomplishment has been to connect busy teachers with a wider system of curriculum. We answer questions like "How do other teachers make their bike generators safe for 13 year olds?" and "What books should my library order so I can take my chemistry students there for library research?"
If you need anything, just contact us, and we can talk over the phone, in writing, or in person; we'll give you the help we can or point you to one of many other useful resources in our network.
Almost everything we do "in-house." Incorporation, accounting, taxes, non-profit status, web-design, databases, purchasing and sales, budgets, employment, grant-writing, conference calls, communication, publishing...These are all part of running the network. If you are interested in learning more about how to run a non-profit, especially one for teachers, Shawn would enjoy discussing the details. You can use the Contact link in the menu to contact him.
We offer a library and workshop space in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where educators can meet, discuss curriculum, and borrow books and lab equipment.
To learn more about our operations, read a short article about our "best day".
What is "energy production and use" or "energy resources and use"?
We study how humans carry energy from one place to another, how we extract or produce those carriers, and how we use them. We study the impact of that production and use on society and ecosystems. We also are concerned about what we learn in school, how relevant the pedagogical topics of science and history are to humanity's current pursuits. Energy as a topic of study has a history, and the way we learn about it is dynamic but entrenched in textbooks and prior training. EnergyTeachers.org seeks to invigorate the exchange of new ways of teaching about energy and new specific topics in energy to teach.
Who is our clientele?
EnergyTeachers.org serves anyone interested in educating anyone about energy production and use; we also serve educators interested in electronics. So far, that has included college professors; K-12 teachers; museum educators; youth-group leaders; job-trainers; instructors in science, engineering, energy, writing, politics, and even history; home-school families; other charities; governmental agencies; event organizers; and cooperative extensions of a land-grant college.
Support
There are many ways people support EnergyTeachers.org. See the most complete list at "Be a part of EnergyTeachers.org". Two things we always need are volunteers and funding.
Volunteers help us fill our databases with useful, up-to-date information for educators. We work with corporate-volunteer organizations with clear tasks.
You may also find opportunities at Create the Good, https://createthegood.aarp.org, and idealist, https://www.idealist.org/.
More special opportunities for volunteers are listed at "Be a part of EnergyTeachers.org".
EnergyTeachers.org is an IRS 501(c)(3) public charity, incorporated in Massachusetts. See below for documentation. We seek grants, in-kind donations, and private donations. If you are interested in our finances or status with the IRS, you may view a report at GuideStar, the leading source of information on U.S. nonprofits (login required for some information): https://www.guidestar.org/profile/30-0285917
Checks
Avoid wasteful processing fees by sending a check directly with the Supporting ETO Donation Form or write to:
Treasurer, EnergyTeachers.org
220 Lexington Ave
Cambridge, MA 02138
Online
PayPal (Who is currently paying all credit fees so your entire amount goes to our work!):
VENMO Processed by PayPal, no fees.
About donations
Donors can send inquiries to the treasurer using the link below or sending email to 
; all donations are tax deductible as allowable by law.
Indirect donations
Companies will donate to EnergyTeachers.org if you designate us during a purchase from them, through the services detailed below. You pay no extra; the donation comes from the margin of the sale.
Goodshop and Goodsearch
If you are interested in raising money for any charity via simple web searches, consider using GoodSearch (make sure EnergyTeachers.org or any charity is selected). Their GoodShop service allows you to shop online, not pay anything more than you would without the service, yet a portion of the sale is donated to charity. For example, if you buy two books at an online bookstore the old-fashioned way, you pay $27.32. If you click the store's link from GoodShop with EnergyTeachers.org selected, then purchase the same two books, you still pay $27.32, but the store gives $0.41 to EnergyTeachers.org .
iGive
Similarly, iGive donates money to causes without charging you anything (requires registration, but allows you to receive a tax deduction for the portion donated).
Purchases: http://www.iGive.com/EnergyTeachersDotOrg
Searches: http://www.iSearchiGive.com/EnergyTeachersDotOrg
Check out our non-profit store at http://www.cafepress.com/EnergyTeachers 
(opens in a new window); all proceeds go to support our library. When you're done there, you can return easily here by clicking on Energy Teachers in the shopkeeper's bio.
Available by mail or email at your request. You can also use the Contact button above.
Our IRS Form W-9 (PDF), information for donors.
Our most recent IRS Form 990 (PDF), annual report.
To return to the home page, click here.