The Virginia State KidWind Challenge was held at James Madison University on April 12, 2025 in King Hall. Six Makersmiths teams competed, three wind teams and three solar teams. The competition from Kidwind teams throughout Virginia was very strong. In the end, our High School solar team, Sub 4, came in third place and our middle school wind team, Recreational Renewables, came in second place. The high school Wind Team (pictured left), Recreational Renewables, coached by Oliver Arend, competed at KidWind Worlds May 18-21, 2025 at the convention center in Phoenix, Arizona. Although the team did not win in their middle school wind turbine division, they had a memorable time meeting teams from all around the USA, Mexico and Taiwan. For more information about this challenge, visit https://kidwind.org/worlds/2025/
Meet the Makersmiths' KidWind Teams from 2024
The Vivacious Voltages
La Wai
Solar Flares
The three 2024 KidWind teams sponsored by Makersmiths competed in the Northern Virginia Challenge at Shenandoah University on March 14. The high school solar team (La Wai) won first place in their division, the middle school solar team (Solar Flares) won third place in their division, and the middle school wind turbine team (Vivacious Voltages) won second place in their division. All first and second place wind turbine winners automatically qualified to compete in the Virginia State KidWind Challenge on April 6, 2024 at James Madison University. First through third place solar teams qualified for the state challenge.
La Wai, the Makersmiths High School solar team won the Solar High School Division on May 8, 2024 at the KidWind Worlds Challenge in Minneapolis, MN! Coached by Justin McMillen and Maria Busuioceanu, the team wowed the judges with their solar operated Distillation Project! Not only did they do well presenting to the judges, they performed well on a knowledge quiz and several instant challenges. When visiting the Convention Center vendors, they met many Green Energy industry leaders. The other fun part of the experience was meeting other KidWind teams from the USA, Mexico and Taiwan!