Sonoma Clean Power and CTE Foundation Expand Hands-On STEM Access Across the North Bay

Hands-on learning opportunities are becoming more accessible for middle and high school classrooms across Sonoma and Mendocino counties.

Sonoma Clean Power (SCP) and the Sonoma Career Technical Education (CTE) Foundation have expanded their STEM Kit Lending Library, giving local teachers free access to classroom-ready projects covering electrical systems, engineering, electric transportation, automotive technology, and environmental sustainability. The initiative builds on a long-standing regional partnership focused on giving students practical experience with technologies shaping the future workforce.

For Switch Vehicles, the program also represents the latest chapter in a local partnership that stretches back nearly a decade.

 

Building on Years of Local Collaboration

Sonoma Clean Power and CTE Foundation began supporting Switch EV programs in 2017. Through the partnership, 10 Switch Lab EV programs were placed at regional schools, giving students opportunities to learn electrical systems and clean transportation technology by building a complete electric vehicle.

That original initiative reflected the same project-based approach Switch Vehicles continues to support today: students develop technical knowledge by working directly with real components, wiring systems, batteries, and electrical circuits rather than studying those concepts exclusively through lectures or textbooks.

The new STEM Kit Lending Library expands that idea to a much broader group of classrooms.

Instead of requiring a school to permanently acquire a complete program, teachers can reserve sets of equipment for specific portions of the school year. The lending model makes hands-on STEM activities easier to integrate into existing science, math, engineering, and automotive courses while allowing the same equipment to serve multiple schools.

 

Bringing Electrical Systems Into More Classrooms

One of the primary projects available through the lending library is the Switch Relay Lab Kit, a compact system designed to introduce students to electrical circuits, wiring diagrams, relays, switches, indicators, and fuse blocks.

Students assemble and troubleshoot functional low-voltage circuits while developing fundamental skills in electricity, wiring, component identification, proper wire termination, schematic interpretation, and diagnostic thinking. The reusable platform is designed for small student teams and provides an approachable introduction to electrical systems before students progress into more complex technologies.

Those same foundational skills appear throughout automotive, manufacturing, electrical, energy, and engineering careers.

The CTE Foundation has supplemented the Switch Vehicles instructional resources with a Sustainable STEM curriculum developed in collaboration with classroom teachers. Lessons connect the equipment to subjects including electrical engineering, materials science, algebra, data analysis, renewable energy, fuel systems, and mechanical engineering.

The lending library also includes Lectec equipment that allows students to explore electric transportation by assembling and testing electric skateboard and scooter platforms. Together, the available projects give educators several ways to connect traditional STEM concepts with physical systems students can build, test, modify, and troubleshoot.

 

Early Results Show Strong Student Engagement

The lending library was tested during the 2025-26 school year at Montgomery High School, the Academy of Innovative Arts in West Sonoma County, and Mendocino High School.

The pilot included 64 students, and participating teachers reported that they would use the kits again and recommend the program to other educators. Teachers cited student engagement, teamwork, problem-solving, and perseverance among the benefits they observed.

The broader lending library pilot and Switch EV initiatives reached 267 students in grades 8 through 12 during the same school year. The program is now expanding to additional classrooms throughout Sonoma and Mendocino counties.

That expansion reflects an important principle behind project-based STEM education: students often understand technical concepts differently once they can physically apply them.

Switch Vehicles’ classroom programs follow the same progression. Introductory tools such as the Relay Lab focus on circuits and wiring before students move into batteries, integrated electrical systems, diagnostics, and complete vehicle systems. The goal is not simply to expose students to technology, but to give them repeated opportunities to understand how individual components work together within a larger system.

 

A Regional Investment in Future Skills

The STEM Kit Lending Library is funded by Sonoma Clean Power and administered by CTE Foundation. Teachers can reserve sets of 10 kits at a time, allowing equipment to move between schools throughout the academic year. Across four checkout periods, the program is expected to support as many as 18 classrooms during the 2026-27 school year.

The program also fits within a larger regional effort to connect STEM education, sustainability, and workforce development. CTE Foundation has worked to build stronger connections among K-12 schools, higher education, employers, and community organizations, while Sonoma Clean Power has continued investing in educational programs connected to clean energy and emerging technical careers.

For Switch Vehicles, seeing longtime local partners expand access to this type of learning is especially meaningful. Our company began in Sonoma County with the belief that students understand complex technology best when they are given the opportunity to build, troubleshoot, experiment, and learn from the process.

The STEM Kit Lending Library gives more local educators the ability to create those experiences without needing to build a new course from the ground up.

Middle and high school teachers in Sonoma and Mendocino counties can review available equipment, curriculum resources, checkout dates, and reservation information through the CTE Foundation STEM Kit Lending Library.