KidWind State Finals Saturday in Salina

By Todd Pittenger April 4, 2025

Thirty-five teams from 29 Kansas schools will travel to Salina on Saturday with their sights set on winning a state title in the Kansas KidWind Challenge and an opportunity to advance to the World KidWind Challenge in Phoenix, AZ. Each team qualified for the state finals based on their performance in a series of regional challenges held earlier this year.

According to the Kansas Corporation Commission, the KidWind state finals will be held at the Tony’s Pizza Event Center in Salina beginning at 8 a.m. Teams compete by age groups: 4th-5th grade, 6th-8th grade and 9th-12th grade.

The event is open to the public and free to attend.

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 3.0 meters/second (6.7 miles/hour). 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.

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Teams Participating:

4-5 Grade Division:

  • Allen STEM Magnet-Blue Wind
  • Barton County Special Services Elementary School-Muskels
  • Ellwood Grade School-Eagles Wind Energy
  • Grinnell Middle School-Lighting Hawks
  • Lakewood Elementary-ProBroWind  
  • Logan Jr Sr High School-Mad Monsters
  • Mize Elementary & Starside Elementary –The Turbine Tiger
  • Oliver Brown Elementary –Alvarados
  • Onage Grade School-Country Wind
  • Reno County Homeschool Connections-RCHC Oak Leaf Engineers
  • Sunflower Elementary-Wind Breakers
  • Topeka Collegiate-The Wind People

6th-8th Grade Division:

  • Allen STEM Magnet – Hutch STEM Girls
  • Allen STEM Magnet – Burger Builders
  • Beloit Jr Sr High School – Girl Energy
  • Great Bend Middle School – Panther Alternative Wind Energy (PAWE)
  • Kepley Middle School – Wind Warriors
  • McPherson Middle School – The 3 Musketeers
  • McPherson Middle School – The Horsemen
  • Monticello Trails Middle School – Voyagers
  • Nemaha Central Middle School – WINders
  • Oakley Middle School – Milky Way Wonder
  • Oakley Middle School – Wind Whisperers
  • Pleasant Ridge Middle School – Sigma Spin

9th-12th Grade Division:

  • Abilene High School – Flower Dragons
  • Beloit High School – The Ginger and the Normies
  • Buhler High School – Cru Winds
  • Burlington High School – Burlington Wind Company: Wind Wizards
  • Burlington High School – Burlington Wind Company: Wind Monkeys
  • Inman High School – IHS Wind Energy
  • Oakley High School – The Mavericks
  • Oakley High School – Chippettes
  • Ottawa High School – Password_1
  • Paola High School – DI Wires
  • Wheatland High School – Wind-Blazers