Happy to MEET-U

I apologize for starting your holiday weekend with a really bad pun, but I couldn’t help myself. Although it occurs to me that since many of you don’t know what MEET-U stands for, it’s not much of a pun.

To end the suspense: MEET-U stands for Mobile Energy Education Training Unit. So, I guess the whole thing is a pun, and it’s not my fault after all. Phew.

PHMC/Drake Well Museum/MEET-U

Puns aside, MEET-U is an initiative organized by the Drake Well Museum and originally designed to teach school students about the oil and gas industry. MEET-U was also envisioned as a way to help the museum maintain a public face during the building and exhibit renovation project (ongoing—we posted a couple of pictures here last week). Still in its initial year of full operation, the program has evolved in response to skyrocketing public interest in natural gas drilling and Pennsylvania’s highly prized Marcellus Shale deposit.

PHMC/Drake Well Museum/MEET-U

During the school year, the MEET-U team visits elementary schools throughout the state to engage teachers and students with exhibits and media presentations about energy sources and extraction. This summer, the stunning orange trailer has also made appearances at county fairs and has been hosted in a number of communities, such as Somerset, Pennsylvania.

WJAC-TV, NBC affiliate in Johnstown, Pennsylvania

Upcoming tour dates include:

Sept. 20-21—Erie Maritime Museum
Sept. 25—Boy Scout Jamboree at Moraine State Park
Oct. 1-3—Applefest in Franklin
Oct. 6-7—Oil Region Alliance Shale Forum
Oct. 22-23—National Chemical Week at Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburgh

For more information, you can visit the MEET-U website. To sign on as a sponsor or to schedule a visit, contact project director Dan Weaver, twr38w[at]gmail[dot]com.