Janesville, May 3 - On April 28, the Guardian Energy ethanol plant in Janesville hosted 24 children at its inaugural Take Your Child To Work Day.

Coinciding with the national Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work day which is celebrated every year on the fourth Thursday in April, Guardian Energy used the opportunity to engage and educate children on how clean-Minnesota-grown renewable energy is produced.

“Take Your Child To Work Day is an event that our HR Manager, Mindy Jendersee, had worked with in the past. When she proposed that the Guardian Energy ethanol plants participate, the whole team enthusiastically supported the idea.

“What a terrific way to have our staff engage with their kids and actually show them what it is they do every day. In addition, we are all very proud of the work we do to provide a clean, efficient, alternative to petroleum-based fuel and this event offered a great educational opportunity as well,” said Mike Jerke, CEO of Guardian Energy.

The Guardian Energy plant in Janesville is a locally-owned ethanol plant and is one of three ethanol plants operated by Guardian Energy Management. The other two plants are in Hankinson, North Dakota and Lima, Ohio. Guardian Energy’s Take Your Child To Work Day was held concurrently at the Hankinson and Lima plants.

The Guardian Energy facility in Janesville produces 130-million gallons of ethanol a year, has 47 employees and is a member of the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association.  

Among the activities at its first Take Your Child To Work Day included a briefing on Guardian Energy’s operations, a tour of the ethanol production facility, experiments to understand ethanol as well as some games.

Troy Lau, process operator at Guardian Energy, said both his sons, Cody, 11, and Aiden, 5, enjoyed the plant tour and classroom experiments.

For Jeremy Staloch, the wide-array of activities planned for the children were impressive. A shift leader at Guardian Energy, Staloch brought his son, Riley, 13, and daughter, Destiney, 7. 

“I personally thought it was great and really liked how it all went. There was a little something for everyone. I myself enjoyed giving the tour to the kids and tried to find as much hands on stuff as possible. I was surprised at the questions I got from some of the younger kids,” he said.