TOPEKA - Twenty-two teams from 18 schools will travel to Topeka on Saturday with their sights set on winning a state title in the Kansas KidWind Challenge. To qualify for the event, each team placed first or second in their age division at one of six regional competitions held in February and March.  Saturday's competition will determine the top two teams in each age bracket that will represent Kansas in the National KidWind Challenge in San Antonio, TX.

The state finals will be held at Hotel Topeka at City Center, next door to the Stormont Vail Events Center, beginning at 9 a.m. the event is free and open to the public. Area educators are encouraged to attend to find out more about KidWind and see the fun, excitement and learning firsthand.

To prepare for the KidWind competition, team members work together to design, build and test a wind turbine using the materials of their choice. Each team’s turbine will be put to the test in a 48" × 48" wind tunnel at a wind speed of approximately 3.5-5 m/s (meters per second). Scoring is based on turbine performance and efficiency, a knowledge quiz, an instant challenge, and a presentation to judges where the team explains its design process.

Teams participating in the state finals are listed below:

4th-8th Grade Division

• Terrible Turbines - The Independent School – Wichita
• Menair – Dodge City Middle School (USD 443) – Dodge City
• Special Forces – Comanche Middle School (USD 443) – Dodge City
• Wind Chill – Dighton Middle School (USD 482) – Dighton
• Wind Hawks – Grinnell Middle School (USD 291) – Grinnell
• Hutch STEM Blue – Hutchinson STEM Magnet School / Allen Elementary (USD 308) – Hutchinson
• Gerald la Turbina – Beloit Jr/Sr High School (USD 273) – Beloit
• KO CO. Windfighters – Centralia Schools (USD 380) – Centralia
• Lizard Kingdom – Paola Middle School (USD 368) – Paola

9th-12th Grade Division

• Zephyr – Baldwin High School (USD 348) – Baldwin City
• The Last Airbender – Baldwin High School (USD 348) – Baldwin City
• Sunflowin – Dodge City Public Schools (USD 443) – Dodge City
• Ochoa’s Pilots – Dodge City Public Schools (USD 443) – Dodge City
• Turbine Turners – Oakley High School – Oakley
• Thunderhawks – Wheatland High School (USD 292) – Grainfield
• Cru Winds – Buhler High School (USD 313) – Buhler
• Wind Gladiators – Sterling High School (USD 376) – Sterling
• Osage City High School – USD 420 – Osage City
• Minneapolis High School – USD 239 – Minneapolis
• Windstars – Nemaha Central (USD 115) – Seneca
• Dynamic Downums – Paola High School (USD 368) – Paola
• Potato Guys – Paola High School (USD 368) – Paola

KidWind is an Energy Education Event from the Kansas Corporation Commission and K-State Engineering Extension made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.