Alliance for Community Empowerment (ACE)

Solar Installation and Mobile Training

Learning Solar Installation Skills

  • Students in the summer program master hands-on construction skills by installing residential solar panels and participating in its community repair program, which helps key community-based organizations with a range of repairs. ACE implemented and integrated a middle school summer skilled trades mobile training program with its gang reduction program.
  • In the summer of 2022, all 12 participants in the program earned a GRID Alternatives certification, which indicates mastery of entry-level solar installation skills. The students installed solar panels on two residences during their training. “My goal is to train these students so they can gain access to a high-wage, fast-growing career opportunity,” said David Andrade, the GRID Alternatives solar supervisor who taught the summer class.

“One of the most remarkable results we witnessed was the significant retention and engagement of trainees who historically have low engagement in education and have been negatively impacted by poverty. The Summer Solar program provided a counter-narrative to our students’ lived experiences that fostered a sense of belonging and empowerment. Marginalized youth can envision and strive for a brighter future when given opportunities like the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Skilled Trades Summer program.” Read more.

Michelle Fuentes-Miranda, president and founder, Alliance for Community Empowerment

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The Impact

$1,000,000

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Past Prize Winners

More than 100 teachers across the U.S. have been awarded the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence.

Let’s Build It

Let’s Build It is a convening of prizewinning teachers designed to produce valuable and inventive ideas that could dramatically improve skilled trades education in U.S. public high schools. No related content needed. This will feed in and you will have the opportunity to override during pre launch review.