Burlington Electric Celebrates Net Zero Energy 2026 Calendar Contest Winners

Every year, Burlington Electric Department (BED) and the Burlington School District collaborate on the annual Net Zero Energy Calendar contest. In October, BED and Vermont Energy Education Program (VEEP) team members visited the fourth-grade classes in all six Burlington elementary schools to discuss the important topics of Net Zero Energy, energy efficiency, renewability, and sustainability. The visit culminated with an invitation to the students to demonstrate through art how they could contribute toward helping Burlington become a Net Zero Energy city by 2030.

More than 100 of the amazingly thoughtful and talented fourth graders created beautiful works of art. Fourteen drawings were selected after careful consideration by a panel of judges, and those drawings now fill the pages of BED’s colorful and educational 2026 Net Zero Energy Calendar.

Contest winners, teachers and schools, and artwork location within the calendar are:

• Front Cover: Evie Chou, Mr. Mack, J. J. Flynn Elementary School
• January: Adigail Handy, Mr. Klinger, Champlain Elementary School
• February: Revel LaPointe, Mr. Blake, Edmunds Elementary School
• March: Zoe Townsend, Ms. Landry, J. J. Flynn Elementary School
• April: Raphael Ruboneka, Mr. Houchens, Edmunds Elementary School
• May: Harriet Sundue, Mr. Thibault, Integrated Arts Academy
• June: Eleanor Dabritz, Mr. Palmer, C. P. Smith Elementary School
• July: Mae Hughes, Ms. Lucey, Sustainability Academy
• August: Piper Haggis-Haak, Mr. Gerstenmaier, Integrated Arts Academy
• September: Ruth Arnell, Ms. Marchessault, Sustainability Academy
• October: Calder Michelin, Ms. Roesch, Champlain Elementary School
• November: Coco Kratochvil, Ms. Dominique, C. P. Smith Elementary School
• December: Grayson Atherton, Ms. Haggerty, J. J. Flynn Elementary School
• Back Cover: Norah McDonald, Ms. Giannoni, Champlain Elementary School

 

To celebrate their accomplishment, more than 60 people, including our contest winners, their family members, teachers, and principals gathered for a special ceremony at BED on December 3. During the ceremony, Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, BED General Manager Darren Springer, Vermont Energy Contracting & Supply Corp. representative Barbara Austin, and Lake Monsters mascot CHAMP presented certificates to the winners naming them “energy champions” and awarded them with $50 each (thank you, Vermont Energy) plus a grocery bag filled with BED, VEEP (thank you, VEEP), and Lake Monsters (thank you, Lake Monsters) swag. The students learned that, together, we all can make a difference by being more thoughtful about energy use in our everyday lives. They also learned that American Flatbread makes amazing pizza (thank you, Andrew Dennison and team) and that you need a very large cake to fit the names of all the contest winners.

BED and VEEP offer sincere thank yous to: Burlington’s elementary school principals and fourth grade teachers for welcoming us into their classrooms; the fourth graders for their enthusiasm and interest in energy, the stimulating classroom conversations, and the wonderful and creative artwork; and the parents, siblings, and friends who encouraged our fourth graders to participate in the contest.

Team BED is thrilled that the students have learned that we all can make a difference in preserving our environment for future generations by being thoughtful about our everyday energy use.

If you would like a free calendar, please stop by:

• BED at 585 Pine Street,
• [Friday, December 5 after 12 noon] City Hall (Mayor’s Office or Clerk-Treasurer’s Office), or
• [Friday, December 5 after 12 noon] Fletcher Free Library (College Street or North Avenue branch).

Happy Holidays from the BED family to all our Burlington customers and families!