KidWind has always been focused on helping educators and students explore renewable energy. The idea of the KidWind Project started in 2003 when founder Mike Arquin was a sixth grade science teacher in California. Unhappy with the poor quality of products and curricula available for teaching wind energy science, he set out to develop some new materials. With an initial investment of $1,000 and a fellowship at the Wright Center for Science Education at Tufts University, he developed a new approach to educating the world about wind energy.
KidWind and its team of amazing instructors focus on three major areas - teacher training, curricula and materials, and the KidWind Challenge.
The very first KidWind Challenge was held in a science classroom in Monterey, CA, in 2003. Years later, with support from NYSERDA, we held our first official KidWind Challenge in Albany, NY, way back in 2009.Since 2009, KidWind Challenge events have been successfully implemented in 30 states, with roughly 40,000 students competing in 300 events across the country. Our 2018-2019 Challenge season was the biggest year yet! That year we saw: - 35 State Level KidWind Challenges in 24 states and 4 international locations - 37 Educator Training Events with over 800+ teachers trained in 33 states - 4500+ Students directly participate in KidWind Challenge Events - 500+ Online Challenge Submissions.