Solar Decathlon Pathways

Solar Decathlon Pathways (SD Pathways) connects Solar Decathlon alumni with high school classrooms and academic groups across the United States for STEM career talks exploring pathways to clean energy professions.

• Alumni share their personal pathways to careers in architecture, engineering, renewable energy, sustainable design, or construction industries to inspire the next generation to join the clean energy workforce.
• Students and teachers gain awareness about the many paths to a STEAM career.
• SD Pathways expands the mission of Solar Decathlon to younger students.

Are you a Solar Decathlon alum looking to inspire students? Are you an educator interested in helping your students learn about STEAM career pathways? Sign up using the interest form below!

SD Pathways Interest Form

Thank you all for presenting to 56 NYC schools and more than 1,000 students as part of our first-ever Energy Climate Action Day! The sessions were very informative and set a great precedent for future Climate Action Days and job awareness in general!
– NYC Public Schools

PROGRAM STRUCTURE

SD Pathways matches interested high school classrooms with Solar Decathlon alumni for a one-time career talk, either in person or virtually.

• Solar Decathlon alumni receive a short training to gain familiarity on working with high school students, as well as a monetary stipend for each high school classroom visited.
  • Presentation slides and guidance are provided ahead of time.
  • In-person visits depend on the location of both the high school classroom and the alum.
  • This is a great way to expand the impact to the next generation or even fulfill a company volunteering requirement.
  • Educators gain a classroom visit that introduces students to the clean energy workforce via Career Technical Education (CTE) and traditional four-year college routes. SD Pathways aligns with career options from the following career clusters: Architecture & Construction, Information Technology, Manufacturing, and STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics).

Want to get involved? Fill out the Pathways Interest Form! Email the team at SDPathways@nrel.gov with any questions.