Students compete in KidWind Renewable Energy Challenge at Heartland
Written by Kyra Craddock on March 6, 2026
Image courtesy of Heartland Community College
NORMAL, Ill. – Heartland Community College’s Challenger Learning Center hosted the annual Central Illinois KidWind Renewable Energy Challenge on Friday.
This challenge allows students in grades four through twelve to connect with industry experts and gain real-life experience dealing with renewable energy.
According to Dr. Julia Ossler, the director of Challenger Learning Center, though, this is more than just a challenge. It is a year-long experience that helps bridge the gap between learning done in the classroom and real-life scenarios, providing a truly authentic learning experience.
Throughout the school year, the students work in teams to come up with the most effective wind turbine, with help from their teachers who are guided by the Learning Center. Once they have finished their projects, they are entered into the Energy Challenge.
“It’s almost like a mini conference,” Ossler said. “They talk to industry experts that volunteer as judges for the day.”
After presenting their projects, the judges selected a few teams to move on to the next level.
“We had two teams from our middle school division and two teams from our high school division that will be attending,” said Ossler.
This year, the World KidWind Challenge will be held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus in May.
“These events take place all across the nation,” Ossler said. “They’ve got competitions from everywhere.”
Now, the regional winners from our competition will compete against these other regions, and preparations have already begun.
“They really got to start crunch time because this world competition is no joke,” said Ossler.
Looking at the rest of the year, the Heartland Community College’s Challenger Learning Center has many more events planned, from school year missions to summer camps.
The center will also be undergoing more renovations, allowing students to have even more authentic experiences.
