VA Kidwind Coach Updates

⚡In this email:

• VA Expo Registration Open
• Let us Know You're Coming Form Reminder
• Earn Recertification Points with Kidwind
• Challenge Dates and Locations
• Resources from Kidwind
• Nauticus Blade Building Opportunity
• Find CASE at VAST Professional Development
• Tunnel Testing Opportunities
• VA Kidwind on PBS's This American Land

⚡Requested action items from this email:

• Complete the "Let us Know You're Coming" form

⚡Additional action items if interested:

• Register for the Virginia Kidwind Expo

Missed last month's email? Find it on our website to stay up to date.

VA Kidwind Expo Registration Open

Join us at our free Kidwind Expo and Tunnel Testing on January 11th, 2025 9am-2pm at James Madison University Festival Conference and Student Center. Tunnel testing will take place during check-in (9am-10am).

Let Us Know You're Coming

A reminder on the registration process for this year:

1. Sign up for Coach Emails (checkmark- you did it!)

2. Complete Let us Know You're Coming Form

3. Complete Registration Form

Please fill out our "Let us Know You're Coming" form as soon as you know that you plan to bring at least one team to a challenge. You do not need to know team details for this form, just how many teams you plan to bring. This will allow us to create accurate challenge schedules sooner.

More details on this process can be found on our website.

Earn Recertification Points with Kidwind

CASE is excited to share that coaching a KidWind team qualifies as an Educational Project for the Virginia Department of Education’s teacher recertification requirements. If you are interested in learning how your involvement in KidWind can help you earn recertification points, contact Kim Ward at ward9km@jmu.edu.

Challenge Dates and Locations

CASE will host 6 Regional Challenges across the state.

• Blacksburg- March 4th- Virginia Tech
• Petersburg- March 11st- Virginia State University
• Winchester- March 14th- Shenandoah University
• Hampton- March 18th (Tentative)- Virginia Air & Space Science Center
• Lynchburg- March 30th- Randolph College
• Charlottesville- March 31st- University of Virginia

The VA Kidwind RE State Challenge will be held April 12th, 2025 at JMU.

Resources from Kidwind

CASE at JMU is proud to offer Virginia Kidwind coaches resources, but we also want to highlight the amazing resources Kidwind provides such as:

• Webinars
• In Person and Synchronous Virtual Workshops
• Classroom Activities
• REcharge Academy
• Gale Force Academy
• Kidwind Alumni Fellows

We highly encourage coaches to sign up for Kidwind's newsletter to stay up to date on events and resources!

Nauticus- Blade Building & Tunnel Testing

Visit us at Nauticus November 9th and 10th! CASE at JMU will host an exciting hands-on activity in The Lab where participants can design and test their own wind turbine blades in the KidWind wind tunnel, while learning about the importance of sustainable energy through interactive experiences. Teams can bring their wind turbines on November 10th to test in the wind tunnel. There is a $5 admission fee, but you will have access to the museum after testing.

Visit CASE at VAST Professional Development!

November 14-16th

Raffle- Visit our booth to enter a raffle for renewable energy teacher resources

Pickup Kit- Let us know you're coming by emailing ward9km@jmu.edu and we can bring you your challenge starter kit

Friday 8:30am Session- Solar Success- School Installations to Energy for Refugees (Session 13)

Friday 9:30am Session- Resources for Preparing Renewable Energy Challenge Teams (Session 29)

Find these sessions on the Whova App to read their description and learn more!

Tunnel Testing Opportunities

CASE, along with partnered VA Kidwind Trainers, will host Tunnel Testing days around the state. Tunnel Testing Days will be an opportunity for any team to experience a full size Kidwind Wind Tunnel. Wind Teams are invited to bring their project on the day of these events to collect data in the wind tunnel. Teams can use this opportunity to test different blades, pitches, or other design aspects in the full size wind tunnel. We encourage teams to bring blade materials and notebooks to make any modifications as you are testing.

Tunnel testing events are free with the exception of Norfolk, which requires admission to the museum ($5).

Additional tunnel testing opportunities may become available later in the season.

VA Kidwind Featured on PBS's This American Land

Last spring, PBS producers visited Virginia to interview Remy Pangle at CASE and two Virginia Kidwind teams. I highly recommend checking out and sharing this episode of This American Land. It highlights the goals and impacts of Kidwind beautifully!

Kidwind Time Stamp- 9:30-17:30

Thanks!

That's all my updates for now. Thanks for all of the great work you do.

Please let me know if you have any feedback or questions from today's update.

Best,

Anna Reyes

K-12 Education Program Manager

Center for the Advancement of Sustainable Energy

James Madison University