Students from Fluvanna Middle School (FMS) have advanced from regional to the state-level in the Virginia State Wind and Solar Challenge. The event was held at Virginia State University (VSU) in Petersburg, Virginia on Saturday, April 23rd. Over 25 teams comprised of 150 middle and high school students competed for State Wind or Solar Champion title.
Six teams of Fluvanna Middle School participated in the regional KidWind Challenge at James Madison University (JMU) in March for both the solar and wind categories. Eric Drowngowski, the Library Media Specialist, served as the main coach for the 5th through 7th graders. These students' solar projects included a self-watering greenhouse made from reclaimed materials, a hovercraft, and a music speaker. Each of the three wind teams tested a different type of turbine design. During the competition, students actively worked through the engineering process of “design-test-revise-test-again” as they made last minute adjustments before the final judging. In the regional competition three teams won four awards.
- Judges' Award for unique blade design
- Judges' Award for overcoming obstacles
- Peoples' Choice Award
- 3rd Place in overall for solar projects
This is the first year Fluvanna has participated in the KidWind Challenge, and the students are already talking about their ideas for next year’s designs.
