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Blythewood instructor says student-run biodiesel program fuels school vehicles and trains students
Summary
Will Epps, biodiesel instructor at Blythewood High School, described a student-operated program that turns used cooking oil into biodiesel and foaming hand soap; the fuel runs school tractors and district buses and participants can earn up to 200 hours of industry experience.
Will Epps, biodiesel instructor at Blythewood High School, described a student-run program that collects used cooking oil and recycles it into biodiesel fuel and foaming hand soap used by the school and sold to the public. "We run a chemical manufacturing facility that takes used cooking oil and recycles it into biodiesel fuel and foaming hand soap that we use," Epps said.
Epps said the biodiesel is used in the school's tractors and in "district school buses," and that the soap is sold while the program works on getting it into school bathrooms. He described students carrying out the work: "Students run this entire process. They do all of the processing, they do all of the testing, they do all of the sample management and learn industry skills while in the process." According to Epps, students in the program "can earn up to 200 hours of industry experience that will prepare them for their next step."
On the program’s overall purpose, Epps framed the training as the primary outcome: "We make biodiesel, we make soap, but the real product that we make is our students." The speaker did not record any formal motions or votes in the transcript.
