KidWind Mobile Learning Laboratory getting ready to “roll”

 

A month ago I posted a picture of this 2001 Ford E350 bus with only 8,00 miles on it!  This bus was going to become the KidWind Mobile Learning Laboratory, an idea I proposed to Mike Arquin, the founder of the KidWind program, in August of 2024. Part of the justification for the bus was to make the KidWind training sessions we had been doing for the last 5 years in Wisconsin more efficient. I wrote, “Everyone knows that teachers/coaches are the key to KidWind student participation. Right now the training model calls for getting a suitable location, picking a specific date and time that 10 to 15 teachers can fit into their schedule plus getting a substitute and travel time. The training day and date are advertised and communicated through various ways. Preparations are made with the hope for 10-12 participants.” 

There is also the preparation by the trainers to consider. Equipment must be gather, loaded and transported to the training site. Then it must be unloaded and set up at the training site. After the training is done the process must be reversed and the equipment and materials stored for the next session. We did 2 or 3 a year.

How is this going to work? 5 W’s How and How Much…

The bus is loaded with everything needed to go. The list of hands on learning experiences that are contained on the bus.

Each of these experiences is more defined and explained on a 3 page attachment for the teacher to refer to as they make their 8 to 10 selections on the sign up sheet pictured below.

This is the sign up sheet that teachers will fill out.

It works. The first beta testing shows it. Just ask Pedro, a former KidWind team member now attending the UW Platteville assembling the new Gen-X AC wind generator.

Or David, a local coffee buddy wiring a series of solar PV panels into an array that will power devises with the correct voltage.

I am confident that with the continued support and funding from the stake holders in the renewable energy business the KidWind Mobile Learning Laboratory will be coming to a school near you soon and working with a teacher that wants to learn more about making electricity from the wind and sun and teaching their students about the future of renewable energy today!

I welcome any comments or suggestions you might have.

Dick Anderson

Darlington, WI