By Parker Butler
Lylburn Downing Middle School (LDMS) is now relying on renewable energy a major source of electrical power. The school partnered with Secure Futures, an energy development company based in Staunton, to install solar panels on its roof. Lylburn Downing is the first school in the Shenandoah Valley, and the second school in the Commonwealth, to do so. The panels are expected to generate 25 percent of the school’s annual electrical requirements, saving the Lexington City School District over $3,000 in annual electrical costs. The school hopes to integrate the solar panels into the science and math curriculum by the start of the next school year.