The KidWind Challenge, supported by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, is a national competition for middle and high school students to explore wind energy by doing. Kids learn the basics (and beyond) of wind energy and wind technologies, then learn to design, build, and test their own functional and creative wind turbines. Everything is entirely customizable and kids are constantly raising the bar when it comes to top designs.

This week, organizers of the 2018 National KidWind Challenge announced that more than 4,000 students directly participated in their events during the 2017–2018 season, with 35,000 students impacted by KidWind Challenge-related activities.

As part of the KidWind Challenge, middle and high school students design, build, and test a functional wind turbine and enter their design in a competition with their peers. Check out photos and a video from the national event, which was held in May 2018 in Chicago.

In addition to the national challenge, organizers hosted 32 regional challenges in 24 states, as well as 37 educator training events that resulted in more than 800 teachers trained in 33 states.

Educators interested in learning more about wind and solar power can register for The REcharge Academy, a week-long renewable energy training workshop which will be held in Harrisonburg, Virginia from July 23-27. The Academy will teach basic circuit design through designing solar homes with smart features, how to build wind turbines that can run small lights, motors, and water pumps, and even how to create stop motion animations of your work. The training will be hosted at James Madison University by REcharge Labs and the Virginia Center for Wind Energy.