TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Some elementary school students in Topeka got the chance to see a high-speed wind tunnel, to promote the finals of a state competition.
36 teams representing 25 Kansas schools are finalists in the Kansas KidWind Challenge, earning the chance to win the state title and advance to the “World KidWind Challenge” in Madison, Wisconsin, next month.
The students were tasked with building their own model wind turbine to generate energy. The finals start in Salina on Saturday, April 11.
The student teams will be scored on their turbine’s performance in a wind tunnel, a knowledge quiz, an instant challenge, and a presentation.
The qualified teams were judged based on their performance in regional challenges, leaving a record 106 finalist teams participating.
“In life, we have challenges all the time. We have to problem-solve all the time,” said Stacy Harris, Kansas Energy Program instructor and KidWind promoter. “And that’s something hard to teach. So giving kids the chance to really engineer and focus and challenge and giving them time to play, it helps them connect with careers that will help us in the future.”
To promote the challenge, the “shark high speed wind tunnel” traveling from Madison, Wisconsin, to Salina, made several stops in Topeka, including Elmont Elementary. There are two finalist teams from Elmont.
The tunnel features a large constructed shark head that will have wind speeds up to 22 miles an hour coming out of the shark’s mouth.
The wind tunnel also stopped at Logan Elementary in Topeka and Woodrow Wilson Elementary in Manhattan.
“Building a rocket ship takes a lot of time and energy, but the real fun is riding on it,” said Dick Anderson, a KidWind advisor from Wisconsin. “So, the students get to design, build, and test these wind turbines. And then in the process, they can have some real fun with it when they test them in this high-velocity wind tunnel, which is about four times the energy that the normal wind tunnels at the competition produce.”
There is even a story behind the idea to build a shark wind tunnel, according to Dick Anderson.
“In the town where I live, the guy had one of these from 50 years ago when the ‘Jaws’ movie came out. And he happened to be doing some work out in California. And they were scrapping it out. And he sought it up and brought it back to Darlington. It was on the main street for several years. And then some people coming out of the bars at night wanted a tooth for a souvenir. And I ended up replacing the teeth. But during the process, it was so cool. I got the idea to build one and incorporate it with the KidWind program.”
“We’re having a good time, and we’re learning a lot about electricity,” said Anderson. “Like they say, when it comes to electricity, all you need to know is how to write a check. We don’t believe in that. And if you shut the electricity off for 24 hours, people are going to take a lot more interest in it.”
Copyright 2026 WIBW. All rights reserved.