By Joel Spears

CHURCH HILL — Saving the world from an energy shortage — thanks in part to The Sneaker — is all in a days work for Nikki Neutron.  No, really, it’s her job.
    Actually, Nikki Neutron is Haley Chamberlain and she’s just acting out her role with fellow thespian Jerome York, who plays The Sneaker and several other characters in “The Energized Guyz,” a travelling production by Minnesota-based National Theatre for Children.
    On Monday, the show stopped at Carter’s Valley Elementray and Surgoinsville Elementray schools where students experienced it first-hand.  It has also been shown at Bulls Gap, Saint Clair, Russellville, and Hawkins Elementary.
    “The Energized Guyz” is an educational initiative sponsored locally by Holston Electric Cooperative and TVA to teach about wise and renewable energy uses and water conservation. 
    “Our children are great ambassadors of wise energy use,” HEC Member Services Director Jenny Lawson said.  “What they learn from this program will be used in homes all over the area.” 
    She also said “The Energized Guyz” provides not only interactive entertainment for kids from kindergarten through sixth grades, but also educates them about energy issues that Holston Electric and TVA currently face.
    “If we can teach youngsters about the need to conserve energy, not only will they go home and encourage their families to become more diligent, but they also will be more likely to practice what they’ve learned in their adult lives,” TVA Energy Efficiency and Demand Response Vice President Joe Hoagland said about the program.
    The “Energized Guyz” story revolves around a hero, “Nikki Neutron,” having to quickly solve a problem.  “The Sneaker ” however is bent on hoarding electricity and wasting what he doesn’t need.
    During the show “Neutron” learns what she needs to know about energy and why it’s bad to waste it.  She has those messages repeated to her several times before she understands.  By shouting “Open your eyes, be energy wise” students are able to halt The Sneaker’s plans. 
    “The Energized Guyz,” has been in more than 300 schools via 93 distributors of TVA electricity in the Tennessee Valley since September.  At the end of the school year, more than 250,000 children will have participated in the performance.
    For more information about the National Theatre For Children, visit www.nationaltheatre.com.