Over a year, a small group of high school students risked their afternoons and summer to participate in a science program that was "much different from science class." This was one of several after-school programs in Oakland and Richmond that the author was leading as an instructor with the East Bay Academy for Young Scientists (EBAYS). Students in their projects carry out local, community-based research. Given the proximity of many schools to freeways, train tracks, and industry, they decided to focus on energy production and its relation to air quality as a way to help develop science literacy and environmental justice leaders. What was once commonplace--a train speeding through the neighborhood--became a catalyst for students to understand the connections between energy and air quality. (Contains 1 note.)