Maryland KidWind

Impact

1. Maryland KidWind has provided energy education programming to K12 students and energy education professional development to K12 teachers in the region since 2022.

  • Our program is funded solely through Sponsorships and Grants.

2. Over the past 2 years, the university's collegiate wind team, the TERPines, has actively supported Maryland KidWind activities. 

  • In the fall of 2025,  3 TERPines joined our Maryland KidWind Team to lead a Wind Turbine Instant Design Challenge at Matapeake Middle School for nearly 400 middle school students.
  • At the 2026 Maryland Regional Challenge, nearly half of our volunteers were TERPines. TERPines provided technical feedback to teams who tested wind turbines and solar home designs (such as troubleshooting their microcontrollers on their Solar Smart Homes and identifying how their turbine performance data aligns with their design modifications).

3. This program is a community, K12 school, EDUC/ENGR university, and industry partnership. 

  • We consistently receive sponsorships from industry partners. The 2025 and 2026 Maryland KidWind Regional Challenges were funded by a 2024 Constellation Grant secured with the help of our College of Education's Development Office.
  • This grant served as cost share to our Maryland Energy Administration Grant, which funded expanded statewide outreach, interstate collaboration, and curriculum development.
  • We have also received sponsorships from the Kalhert Foundation, U.S. Wind, and university alumni. 

4.  Roughly 800 students have participated in the Maryland KidWind Regional Challenge held at the University of Maryland since the program began.

5. Through our partnership with the Maryland STEM Festival, Maryland KidWind has brought energy education to over 1,000 students in Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore.

6. In collaboration with College of Education faculty, we have incorporated KidWind activities into STEM Education courses for pre-service and in-service teachers enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs at the university.

PARTICIPANT DATA

Our student data collected from 2025 Maryland Regional Challenge participants indicates:

Elementary School participants expressed a high interest in engineering (mean = 4.3) and technology (mean = 4.0). They attributed their KidWind experiences to building a strong sense of community (mean = 4.2), curiosity about renewable energy jobs (mean = 3.7), and a strong understanding of how wind turbines work (mean = 4.3).

Middle School participants expressed a high interest in engineering (mean = 3.9) and technology (mean = 4.0), as well. They attributed their KidWind experiences to a strong understanding of how wind turbines work (mean = 4.2) and their interest in learning more about renewable jobs (mean=3.7) 

High School participants had equally high levels of interest in engineering (mean = 3.93) and technology (mean = 3.97). High schoolers attributed KidWind Experiences to building a team community (mean = 4.33) and a sense of belonging (mean = 4.24) of all groups. They also expressed curiosity about renewable energy careers (mean = 3.92).