KEEP partners with the Wisconsin Energy Institute (WEI) at UW–Madison to support Wisconsin KidWind by co-hosting KidWind Educator Workshops and supporting the Wisconsin KidWind Challenge.

KidWind is a hands-on design challenge in which student teams design and build small-scale wind turbines and solar structures at home or school and bring them to events all over the country to measure power output and present in front of expert judges.

The Wisconsin KidWind Challenge is is open to 4-12th grade students and is held in late February or early March each year. The Challenge is a day-long event that draws student teams from all across Wisconsin and northern Illinois. KEEP supports the Challenge through sponsorship of the event, assisting with judging of the events, and integration of the Energy Career Pathway into the event.

Solar Olympics is an annual, one-day renewable energy competition for participating SolarWise® schools and held at one of the University of Wisconsin campuses in Northeast Wisconsin. Throughout the fun-filled day, students participate in a variety of challenges, such as Solar T-Shirt Design and the ever-popular Solar Car Competition. Solar Olympics gives students the opportunity to learn about solar energy by direct, hands-on experience, while also gaining experience in project management and teamwork.

MeterHero makes AP Environmental Science relevant by empowering students to investigate with their own real utility data. MeterHero is specifically designed as a turn-key semester kick-off, units 5/6 enhancement, or ideal post-exam project.

KEEP supports Wisconsin K-12 educators who wish to access MeterHero for their classrooms by covering the cost of training and implementation ($320 value). Wisconsin high schools offering AP Environmental Science or PLTW courses have found MeterHero fits in well with the curriculum they already offer.   

Through MeterHero students are engaged in energy education at school and at home, regardless of housing situation (home, apartment, school, shelter, business), leveraging their families’ interest to make STEM relevant for the students and be examples of wise utility consumption for their communities.