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Seneca Valley students head to KidWind World Championship

Seneca Valley School District ›  |  Posted on

KidWind teams

Seneca Valley is proud to announce that two student teams from Haine Elementary School have earned invitations to the KidWind World Championship, taking place May 18–21 in Phoenix.

The competition is the culminating event of the KidWind Challenge, a hands-on design competition that encourages students to explore the power and promise of clean energy through building and testing small-scale wind turbines and solar structures.

This year, six teams of fourth-grade students from Haine Elementary participated in KidWind events. The wind turbine teams competed in both the regional and state-level challenges hosted at Penn State Greater Allegheny and Penn State University Park, while the solar power teams showcased their innovations at the state competition held at University Park.

Following impressive showings at these events, two Seneca Valley teams earned tickets to the prestigious world finals:

The SV Wind Power team, composed of Auggy Semblante, Ayansh Goyal and Connor Diefenderfer
The SV Solar Sorters team, consisting of Cassius Eggleston, Logan Fedin, Lucas Prible and Charlie Walczak

Both teams are coached by Linda Weismann, fourth grade teacher, and Jeremiah Friday, gifted support teacher, at Haine Elementary. Currently KidWind is offered at Haine Elementary, it is expanding to Ehrman Crest in 2025-26, and the other elementary buildings in 2026-27.

“We are incredibly proud of the dedication of the students, as well as their exceptional performance at both the regional and state levels,” said Ms. Weismann and Mr. Friday. “All of the SV teams poured their souls into the testing and the presentation of their work. As the inaugural group of SV students who participated in KidWind, they have surpassed our expectations with their creativity, responsibility and resilience in overcoming obstacles. With its emphasis on renewable energy, the students developed an understanding of sustainability, and through testing and iteration, created the best designs to create the most electricity, with the given materials and the project constraints. We excited for the future of the KidWind program at Seneca Valley.”

According to its website, the KidWind organization aims to spark student interest in clean energy and its global impact, offering opportunities for young learners to engage in real-world STEM challenges and explore careers in the renewable energy sector. The program also provides students with 21st-century learning skills and a phenomenon-based learning opportunity.