Bringing their Student/Teacher Workshop to Ruston not only helps teachers in the region but also fosters connections with other teachers around the country.
KidWind, a national nonprofit dedicated to providing educators with training, curricula, and materials designed to help them teach students about renewable energy, brought their Student/Teacher Workshop to Ruston, Louisiana, June 5–8.
Mike Arquin had the idea to found KidWind in 2003 while he was a sixth-grade science teacher in California.
He was unhappy with the poor-quality materials available to educators teaching wind energy science, so he decided to create his own.
After investing $1,000 and completing a fellowship at Tufts University, Arquin developed a new approach for teaching wind energy. KidWind was born.
KidWind workshops give teachers the opportunity to complete different activities and lessons, which they can share with their kids back in the classroom.
“When you see kids successfully complete some of these challenges, like building their own working wind turbine, you can see the excitement in their eyes,” said Arquin.
KidWind Challenge
KidWind Challenge is the organization’s flagship renewable energy design and construction student competition held in a different city each year.
It all starts locally; schools participating in KidWind events enter their teams into local and statewide competitions that culminate in the national competition.
Bringing their Student/Teacher Workshop to Ruston not only helps teachers in the region but also fosters connections with other teachers around the nation, as teachers regularly cite the connections they make as one of the highlights of KidWind Workshops.
Together into the future
Southern Spirit Transmission is proud to be a sponsor of KidWind. Renewable energy jobs are twenty-first century jobs. KidWind’s efforts inspire kids around the country to pursue careers in our industry.