MENDOCINO CO., 8/22/26 — A program that lends kits to teach hands-on clean energy education to classes in Mendocino and Sonoma counties is expanding to more schools this academic year.
In the 2025-26 academic year, students from Mendocino High School and two schools in Sonoma County participated in testing a lending library program, according to Sonoma Clean Power, the public power provider for Mendocino and Sonoma counties.
The program allowed teachers to check out STEM kits for electrical and electric vehicle projects, the power agency said. STEM is an approach to teaching science, technology, engineering and math in a way that connects the subjects. The projects included in the kits taught the students how to build and fix electrical technology found in automotive systems.
Sonoma Clean Power officials said in a statement that after the test run of the program last year, all three teachers who participated said they would use the STEM kits again and recommended the program based on observing “strong student engagement, teamwork, problem-solving and perseverance.”
Mendocino High School principal Tobin Hahn said there were 10 students who participated in the program last year, and they will have another 10 this year.
“It was engaging for the students because this was a larger format,” Hahn said. “Being able to make the connection to an actual electric vehicle was appealing to the students.”
The program will be open to more classrooms this fall. A formal launch and ribbon cutting for the program is planned for January, Sonoma Clean Power said.
The power agency said the program can serve up to 18 classrooms across four periods of checkout times in the 2026-27 school year, with each teacher able to check out a set of 10 kits at a time.
According to the power agency, teachers can now reserve kits for the fall semester online at CTESonomaCounty.org under the investments tab. The first checkout period begins Monday and kits can be picked up from Sonoma Clean Power’s customer center in downtown Santa Rosa.
The program is funded by Sonoma Clean Power and facilitated through the Career Technical Education Foundation, a Sonoma County nonprofit that looks to improve career-preparedness for students.