Kansas Energy Program

⚡🍃 Kansas Teachers—Ready to Bring Energy to Your Classroom? 🍃⚡

Looking for engaging, hands-on STEM activities that get students excited about science, engineering, and energy?

Join the Kansas Energy Program's FREE Energy in Action Workshop! These interactive workshops are designed for grades 4–12 educators and will give you classroom-ready activities that connect students to real-world energy concepts, engineering design, problem-solving, and career pathways.

✅ FREE registration
✅ Hands-on STEM activities
✅ Classroom resources you can use immediately
✅ Connect with other educators
✅ Learn from the Kansas Energy Program team

📍 Iola – July 21, 2026
📍 Wichita – July 22, 2026
📍 Manhattan – July 29, 2026
⏰ 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM

Whether you're new to energy education or looking for fresh ideas, this workshop is packed with activities your students will love.

🎯 Spots are limited, so register today!

👉 kansasenergyprogram.org/events

🏛️💡 Looking to make energy-efficient upgrades to your facility but worried about upfront costs?

🚨Join the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) and the Kansas Energy Program (KEP) for a free webinar introducing the Facility Conservation Improvement Program (FCIP).
FCIP uses energy performance contracting to help governmental facilities make comprehensive energy improvements.
The cost of upgrades is paid over time through guaranteed savings from utility and maintenance budgets.

📅 Tuesday, June 16, 2026
⏰ 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM CDT

This webinar is ideal for:
✅ School districts
✅ Municipalities
✅ State universities
✅ State hospitals
✅ Correctional facilities
✅ Other Kansas governmental facilities interested in reducing energy costs and improving efficiency.

👇See flyer attached for more information!✨

Learn how your facility can save energy, reduce costs, and improve infrastructure through this proven program.
Kansas Department of Corrections
Kansas Hospital Association
Kansas Association of School Boards
USA|Kansas
League of Kansas Municipalities

Monday, David Carter and PinkScience Diva headed west to Garden City for the STEM Summit — and it was absolutely worth the trip!

The keynote by Steve Spangler was fantastic. He reminded all of us how important it is to:
✨ Build connections in the classroom
✨ Focus less on being the flame and more on being the match
✨ Instill curiosity in students
✨ Remember that it is more important to be interested than interesting

We always enjoy hearing him speak and left inspired and energized for the year ahead.

After the keynote, we shared a presentation about all the ways the Kansas Energy Program can support Kansas teachers. We loved connecting with new educators and hope this is just the beginning of future collaborations!

On the drive back, we made a stop at the historic Pawnee Rock State Historic Site — such a neat piece of Kansas history! Learn more about it here: https://www.nps.gov/places/pawnee-rock-state-historic-site.htm
It may have been a long trip to western Kansas, but we were happy to be part of it. One thing is for sure — if you teach in Kansas, we will do everything we can to get to you. ❤️⚡🌻

Enjoy some pictures from our day!

🌬️⚡ Kansas Teachers & Youth Leaders…THIS is your sign to check out KidWind Kansas! ⚡🌬️

Over the last few days, we’ve shared stories from our amazing Kansas teams at the World KidWind Challenge, and WOW…these students continue to inspire us with their creativity, perseverance, teamwork, and engineering skills. 💡🔧

Now it’s YOUR turn to see what all the excitement is about!

The Kansas Energy Program is opening registration for THREE upcoming KidWind Teacher Workshops across Kansas! These workshops are designed for educators, sponsors, homeschool groups, after-school programs, and organizations wanting to bring hands-on renewable energy engineering into their classrooms and programs.

✅ FREE to attend
✅ FREE lunch
✅ Mileage reimbursement
✅ Sub pay available
✅ Hands-on training
✅ Learn engineering design & renewable energy concepts
✅ Connect students to REAL Kansas careers
✅ Access to FREE competitions for grades 4–12
✅ AND…participants will receive a FREE KidWind turbine kit for their classroom (subject to funding) 🌪️

Our Kansas KidWind competitions include:
🏆 6 Regional Events
🏆 State Championship
🏆 Opportunities to advance to the World KidWind Challenge

Students build so much more than turbines:
💬 Communication skills
🤝 Teamwork
🧠 Problem solving
📈 Data analysis
🔄 Iteration & perseverance
⚙️ Engineering design skills

This is one of the most engaging STEM experiences we see students participate in year after year. ❤️

📣 If you’ve ever wondered:
“Would this fit my classroom?”
“Could my students do this?”
“How do I even get started?”

THIS workshop is for you.

🚨 Spots are limited and these workshops tend to fill quickly, so don’t wait to register!

What an incredible year for our Kansas teams at the 2026 World KidWind Challenge 2026! 🌎💨

Once again, we want to congratulate ALL of our Kansas teams who participated. Every team we talked to shared how much they learned and what they already want to improve for next year. The effort, knowledge, creativity, and perseverance these students showed was absolutely amazing.

And behind every successful team is a dedicated coach who gives extra time, energy, encouragement, and support to help students work through the engineering design process. The students made it very clear how much they appreciated their coaches. ❤️

🏆 Kansas Champions:
⚡ High School Division — Yin Yang-Bryan Bruening
Burlington USD #244
⚡ Middle School Division — WINders-Karla Kramer-Nemaha Central Elementary & Middle School
⚡ Middle School Division—Mavericks-Keith Gable-Allen STEM Magnet KidWind Team
⚡ Elementary Division — Untied Shoelaces-Chrissy Russell-Prairie Ridge Elementary

Each team had their own story of hard work, teamwork, setbacks, perseverance, and success. From rebuilding turbines, fixing last-minute mishaps, balancing busy schedules, FaceTiming into presentations, competing solo in tunnels, and even earning a school parade celebration — these students represented Kansas in an incredible way.

We at the Kansas Energy Program are so proud of every single Kansas team that competed at Worlds this year. 💚

Stay tuned all summer long as we continue sharing photos, videos, memories, and behind-the-scenes moments from our KidWind adventure as well as ways you can be part of the fun! 🌪️⚙️

💨 PERSEVERANCE 💨

This is the story of a group of high school girls who decided they wanted to take their KidWind project to the next level by building their own custom generator. These girls had competed before, but this year they were determined to “up their game.”

At the Regional Competition in Colby, the competition was tight, and they narrowly missed qualifying for State. Many teams would have stopped there… but not this team.

Instead, they chose the online route and earned their way to the World KidWind Challenge in Madison, Wisconsin. 🌎

The journey was anything but easy.

They spent countless hours designing and rebuilding their generator, and by the beginning of Worlds, they were STILL rebuilding it. During judging, one of the judges told them:
“You had a great presentation, but I think I can tell you why your turbine isn’t working.”

Instead of giving up, they listened, learned, and rebuilt again.

Day two arrived… and still no joules produced.
Not in one tunnel.
Not in two.
Not in any of the four tunnels they competed in.

There were tears. Frustration. Exhaustion.

KidWind officials even pulled them aside and suggested they switch back to a standard KidWind generator just so they could at least receive a score.

But these girls kept going.

Then something amazing happened. ❤️

A team from Rhode Island stepped in to help. One girl shared how much she had struggled the year before with her own homemade generator. Soon, the coach and both Rhode Island teams were sharing tools, equipment, ideas, and even FaceTiming them that evening trying to help them solve the problem.

By day three — after SIX rebuilds in THREE days — their mindset had changed.

“It’s not about the score anymore. We are going to see this through. Even if we never produce a single joule, we will know we gave it everything we had.”

As the Kansas Energy Program team, the Rhode Island team, and the Oakley team all stood together trying one final time to make it work… nothing happened.

And yet…
this is NOT a sad story.

This is a story about perseverance.
About grit.
About teamwork.
About learning.
About refusing to quit when things get hard.

These girls learned more from struggling and failing forward than they ever would have by taking the easy route. They walked away smiling, proud, and stronger than when they arrived.

That is the true power of projects and challenges like KidWind. They create lifelong learners and unforgettable experiences.

🌊 Sea Breeze, the Kansas Energy Program is SO proud of your effort, determination, and heart. We cannot wait to see what you create next year.

Because the hard is ALWAYS worth it. 💙

Yes!

Local students win first place at KidWind 2026 World Competition Allen Stem Magnet students David Johnson, Arv Patel, and Connor Loepp won their division o

🌪️ Day 2 & Day 3 at the World KidWind Challenge in Madison were packed with energy, teamwork, creativity, and lots of fun!

Brie and Pink Science Diva spent Day 2 helping with the Instant Challenge alongside some hilarious and creative middle schoolers. From problem-solving to teamwork under pressure, those students kept us smiling all day long! We wrapped up the night helping input scores… but not before enjoying some delicious Wisconsin cheese curds. 🧀 (Because when in Wisconsin… you have to!)

Day 3 brought final turbine runs, team photos, celebrations, and awards! The competition was fierce, and our Kansas teams gave it everything they had. We are beyond proud of the dedication, perseverance, innovation, and sportsmanship shown by every single team this week.

🎉 HUGE congratulations to our 4 Champion Teams:
🏆 Untied Shoelaces
🏆 Mavericks
🏆 Yin Yang
🏆 WINders

You represented Kansas so well, and we could not be prouder of all of our teams for their hard work and determination throughout the season and at Worlds.

💨 Kansas showed up strong!
💡 Keep dreaming, designing, testing, and innovating.