Conference Paper

NREL/CP-500-45473

August 2009

Wind for Schools: Developing 

Education Programs to Train the 

Next Generation of the Wind 

Energy Workforce 

Preprint

I. Baring-Gould, L. Flowers, and M. Kelly

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

L. Barnett

U.S. Department of Energy

J. Miles

James Madison University

Presented at WINDPOWER 2009 Conference and Exhibition

Chicago, Illinois

May 4-7, 2009
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WIND FOR SCHOOLS: DEVELOPING EDUCATION 

PROGRAMS TO TRAIN THE NEXT GENERATION OF

THE WIND ENERGY WORKFORCE

E. Ian Baring-Gould, Larry Flowers, and Marguerite Kelly

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Golden, Colorado, USA

ian.baring_gould@nrel.gov, larry.flowers@nrel.gov, marguerite.kelly@nrel.gov

Lisa Barnett 

U.S. Department of Energy, Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program

Washington D.C., USA

lisa.barnett@ee.doe.gov

Jonathan Miles

James Madison University

Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA

milesjj@jmu.edu

ABSTRACT

As the United States moves toward a vision of 

greatly expanded wind energy use, the rapidly 

growing wind industry faces two challenges: a 

critical need for skilled workers trained in wind 

energy technology and the need to address local 

concerns caused by a lack of understanding of 

the true issues and real benefits of wind energy 

development. The U.S. Department of Energy’s 

Wind for Schools project aims to address these 

two critical issues. 

The Wind for Schools project works to engage 

local citizens in a wind energy discussion while 

developing a knowledge base for wind energy 

within schools. The project’s three primary goals 

are to (1) engage rural elementary and secondary 

school teachers and students in wind energy 

education; (2) equip college students in wind 

energy applications while starting a nucleus for 

expanded programs to provide the growing wind 

industry with and interested and equipped 

workforce; and (3) introduce wind energy on a 

small scale to communities, starting a discussion 

of the benefits and issues in using wind energy to 

meet the needs of the nation’s and the world’s 

energy future.

The general approach of the Wind for Schools 

project is to install small wind turbines at rural 

elementary and secondary “host” schools while 

developing wind energy application centers at 

higher education institutions. Teacher training and 

hands-on curricula are implemented at each host 

school to bring the wind turbine into the 

classroom through interactive and interschool 

wind-related research tasks. The students at the 

wind energy application centers assist in the 

assessment, design, and installation of the small 

wind systems at the host schools. They also 

participate in class work and other engineering 

projects in the wind energy field. 

This paper provides an overview of the project 

elements, including a description of host and 

collegiate school curricula developed for wind 

energy and the status of the current projects. The 

paper also provides focused information on how 

schools, regions, or countries can become 

involved or implement similar projects to expand 

the social acceptance and understanding of wind 

energy.

Keywords: Wind, workforce, education, schools

1 Introduction

In 2006, President Bush emphasized the nation’s 

need for greater energy efficiency and a more 

diversified energy portfolio. This led to a 

collaborative effort of more than 70 organizations 

led by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) 

Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program, the 

American Wind Energy Association, and the 

national laboratories to explore a modeled energy 

scenario in which wind provides 20% of U.S. 

electricity. The purpose of the 20% Wind Energy 

by 2030 report, released in July 2008 [1], is to 

begin a dialogue about issues, costs, and 

potential outcomes associated with the 20% wind 

scenario. Although the report clearly indicates that 

this ambitious 20% wind scenario is achievable, it 

also highlights the challenges to overcome. 

One of the challenges of providing 20% of U.S. 

electricity from wind by 2030 is a need for a

1
More than

500,000 Jobs 

supported by 

the wind 

industry in 2030

Approximately 

180,000 directly 

employed by 

the wind 

industry

dramatically expanded trained workforce. The 

20% wind energy by 2030 report estimates a 

direct U.S. wind workforce of approximately 

180,000 by 2030 to support the implementation of 

approximately 16 GW of new capacity per year 

(Figure 1). The development of a national 

educational infrastructure will be a cornerstone to 

the successful creation of a green energy 

economy in the United States. President Obama 

expanded on this theme from the early days of his 

administration, describing the hundreds of 

thousands of jobs to be produced from a 

transition to a green energy economy, many of 

which will come from the expansion of the wind 

industry.

The need to develop infrastructure to train this 

future workforce, combined with the 40% 

expansion in the total installed capacity of wind 

turbines in 2008 (a record 8,300 MW), is a priority 

for the U.S. wind industry.

In addition to this general pressing need for a 

trained workforce, the perception that energy can 

be taken for granted within our society is 

changing as the economic and environmental 

impacts of our current energy supply structure are 

more widely understood. The U.S. Department of 

Energy’s Wind Powering America project, led 

technically by the National Renewable Energy 

Laboratory (NREL), sponsors the Wind for 

Schools project to raise awareness in America 

about the benefits of wind energy while 

simultaneously developing a wind energy 

knowledge base in future leaders of our 

communities, states, and nation. 

The three primary project goals of the Wind for 

School project are to:

• Engage rural school teachers and students in 

wind energy

• Educate college students in wind energy 

applications, which will equip engineers for 

the growing U.S. wind industry

• Introduce wind energy to rural communities, 

initiating a discussion of wind energy’s 

benefits and challenges.

The Wind for Schools project approach is to 

implement a wind energy training center at statebased universities or colleges. As part of the wind 

energy curriculum activities, college students 

would assist with installing small wind turbines at 

primary and secondary schools. 

A wind turbine located at a school also provides 

students and teachers with a physical example of 

how communities can take part in providing for 

the economic and environmental security of the

nation while allowing exciting, hands-on 

educational opportunities for the students. 

Figure 1: The 20% wind energy by 2030 report estimates a direct U.S. wind workforce of 

approximately 180,000 to support the implementation of approximately 16 GW of new wind capacity 

per year. 

2
The project implementation also provides solid 

experience for the college students that, when 

combined with wind energy coursework, prepares 

them to enter the wind energy workforce. It is 

expected that through this project, small wind 

turbines will be installed at five to eight new 

schools in each targeted state each year.

2 Expanded Need for 

Workforce Development

All other primary energy industries have extensive 

training infrastructure in place, helping to ensure a 

steady stream of engineers, scientists, and 

developers entering each individual field. As an 

example, schools initially focusing on mining in 

Colorado, South Dakota, Nevada, Montana, and 

other states support training of engineers and 

other experts for the oil, natural gas, and coal 

industries. Although a number of universities and 

community colleges are starting to develop new 

wind education and/or training programs, no such 

infrastructure currently exists for the wind 

industry.

There is a dramatic short-term need for wind 

technical experts and individuals who can deploy 

and maintain wind projects. Long-term 

educational pathways (such as exist in other 

major energy sectors) must also be developed, 

which would ensure the workers needed to fulfill 

the industry’s current needs, as well as continued 

improvement and expansion 10 and 20 years 

from now. This includes developing continuity 

among all levels of the educational sector, training 

teachers and professors to expand the knowledge 

base, and developing pathways to allow 

individuals currently in related fields to obtain the 

expertise they will need to support the wind 

energy industry. Figure 2 graphically portrays the 

workforce development needs of a vibrant wind 

industry.

Activities must be implemented that target all 

levels of the education system—primary schools 

through research university-based post graduate 

programs—to support a vision in which a 

significant portion of the nation’s (and world’s) 

energy comes from wind technologies. These 

programs must also be broad in spectrum, 

training engineers as well as plant operators, 

technicians, biologists, lawyers, and 

businesspeople. Educational systems 

stakeholders must also understand that each of 

these professions will be needed in different 

numbers and require different training times, from 

Figure 2: Workforce development infrastructure pathways to support a dynamic wind industry.

3
D – Data

$ – Funds Flow

– Knowledge 

C – Coordination

G.T. – Green Tags

WTG – Wind Turbine

T/A – Technical Assistance

Co-op/Local Utility

WTG Manufacturer

XYZ Company 

Sponsor

School Administration

State Energy Office

State Facilitator

WAC

DOE

Science Teacher

& Students

NREL/WPA

Community

Wind for Schools

Green Tags Marketer

RE Grant Funds

$

$

$

$

$

$

T/A

T/A

T/A

T/A

T/A

T/A

C

C

C

C

$

D

WTG

G.T.

$

D – Data

$ – Funds Flow

– Knowledge 

C – Coordination

G.T. – Green Tags

WTG – Wind Turbine

T/A – Technical Assistance

Co-op/Local Utility

WTG Manufacturer

XYZ Company 

Sponsor

School Administration

State Energy Office

State Facilitator

WAC

DOE

Science Teacher

& Students

NREL/WPA

Community

Wind for Schools

Green Tags Marketer

RE Grant Funds

$

$

$

$

$

$

T/A

T/A

T/A

T/A

T/A

T/A

C

C

C

C

$

D

WTG

G.T.

$

Co-op/Local Utility

WTG Manufacturer

XYZ Company 

Sponsor

School Administration

State Energy Office

State Facilitator

WAC

DOE

Science Teacher

& Students

NREL/WPA

Community

Wind for Schools

Green Tags Marketer

RE Grant Funds

$

$

$

$

$

$

T/A

T/A

T/A

T/A

T/A

T/A

C

C

C

C

$

D

WTG

G.T.

$

several weeks to many years. The Wind for 

Schools project is one element of a larger activity 

to support expanded workforce development 

needs for the U.S. wind industry. 

3 The Wind for Schools Project

The main focus of the Wind for School activity is 

to develop the Wind Application Center (WAC) in 

identified states and, through these organizations, 

support the installation of Wind for Schools 

systems at schools as part of a larger education 

package. Eight entities are involved in the 

implementation of each Wind for Schools system: 

the school (which includes a science teacher, the 

school administration, and the community); a 

WAC; a state facilitator; Wind Powering

America/NREL; a green-energy-sponsoring 

company; a wind turbine manufacturer; the local 

utility or electric cooperative; and the state energy 

office. Although the structure is not rigidly defined

(to allow different states to implement the project 

as is most appropriate), the following section 

describes the roles and responsibilities of each 

entity in greater detail. Figure 3 depicts the Wind 

for Schools program structure, showing the links 

and general activities undertaken by each of 

these organizations. 

Host school, science teacher, school 

administration, and community: In order for a 

Wind for Schools project to succeed, people at all 

levels within the school community must support 

the concept: the science teacher, the school 

principal and administration, the district 

superintendent and administration, and the school 

board. The school provides land for the project, 

support for the wind turbine interconnection to the 

school electrical system, facilities support, 

financial support, and support for the project in 

community meetings, site permitting, and other 

organizational events. After the installation, the 

science teacher uses the wind turbine as a 

teaching aid in energy-related curricula and 

possibly as a source for science fair concepts. 

The program supplies curricula, educational kits, 

and training to teachers to support wind curricula 

implementation in the classroom. Although project 

financial structures will vary from state to state, 

the schools own and are responsible for the wind 

turbine system. The schools will save a minimal 

amount of money by offsetting power generation.

Wind Application Center (WAC): A WAC is

implemented at a state university or college under 

the leadership of an interested university 

professor. The WAC will implement a wind energy 

curriculum and will graduate engineers and 

systems analysts, some of whom may pursue 

wind energy as a career. Roughly fashioned after 

the Industrial Assessment Centers and working 

Figure 3: Schematic of the Wind for Schools program.

4
with the state facilitator, the WACs will also 

provide technical assistance to rural schools 

(analyzing the wind resource, energy usage, 

siting, permitting, land use, and financials, as well 

as overseeing the installation of the power system 

and analyzing system performance 

data).Typically new candidate schools will be 

identified in the early fall, with students from the 

WAC conducting analysis and system permitting 

during the fall academic semester. The turbines 

will be installed in the spring or summer, possibly 

as a junior or senior academic project. This 

project implementation experience, combined with 

wind curricula offered through the WAC, will help 

to produce graduate engineers and systems 

analysts knowledgeable in the wind application 

process.

After the 3- to 5-year implementation period, the 

WAC will assume the responsibilities of the state 

facilitator and will become the primary repository 

of wind energy applications knowledge and 

expertise. Schools, small business owners, 

residential users, state policymakers, regulators, 

and other stakeholders will view the WAC as the 

source of information regarding wind energy 

applications. Although Wind Powering 

America/NREL will provide technical and financial 

support to develop the WAC, it is anticipated that 

after the implementation period the WAC will 

identify independent funding sources. 

The success of the WACs is one of the long-term 

goals of the Wind for Schools project.

State facilitator: This individual or organization 

assists Wind Powering America in developing the 

Wind for Schools project in each state. The 

facilitator’s primary responsibility is to identify 

candidate K-12 host schools and support the 

project’s development by working with the local 

communities and school administrators. The state 

facilitator is also responsible for working with 

Wind Powering America and the WAC to line up

funding and implement each project. The 

facilitator’s role is designed to last about 3 years, 

at which point the WAC assumes the facilitator 

responsibilities. Wind Powering America will 

provide initial funding for the state facilitators.

Wind Powering America/NREL/DOE: In each 

state, Wind Powering America will provide 

technical and financial assistance to the WAC and 

state facilitator over the first few years of the 

project, including:

• Conducting the annual wind energy 

applications training program

• Assisting in the analysis of Wind for School 

projects

• Providing analysis models and other tools to 

support project development

• Providing turbine installation and 

commissioning procedures training

• Providing wind resource assessment 

equipment

• Assisting in curricula development for the K12 schools and the WAC

• Hosting students, professors, and teachers 

with summer projects at NREL.

Green energy certificate sponsoring companies: 

The energy from the wind turbines will offset a 

modest amount of energy usage at the school. 

The green attributes for the energy produced by 

the Wind for Schools turbines will be sold to 

defray the wind turbine costs. The sponsoring 

company will pre-purchase the environmental 

attributes (green tag production) from the turbine 

over the first 10 years of operation for a fixed 

amount, typically $2,500. 

Wind turbine manufacturer: Southwest 

Windpower (www.windenergy.com) joined the 

Wind for Schools project as the initial supplier of 

all Wind for Schools systems. The standard 

system incorporates a SkyStream 3.7 wind 

turbine on a 70-ft guyed tower. This 2.4-kW wind 

turbine will produce about 3,600 to 4,000 

kWh/year, depending on annual average wind 

speeds. Several tower options are also available 

at additional cost, including a monopole (selfsupporting tower without guy wires). 

Local utility or electric cooperative: To ensure the 

success of a Wind for Schools project, the local 

electricity provider should be involved. The utility 

or cooperative should provide technical expertise 

(both in terms of installation and education) and 

assist in the installation of the wind turbine and 

associated hardware. The school and state 

facilitator (or the WAC after the initial years) will 

be expected to secure the support and assistance 

from the local provider. Community education is 

one of the goals of the Wind for Schools project, 

and the local electricity provider is a critical 

project partner. In most rural areas, the local utility 

or energy cooperative is one of the key 

community members, an entity that supplies the 

services that have expanded development and 

the quality of life. The Wind Powering America 

program supports an environmentally sustainable 

energy economy, including the expanded use of 

wind energy, as a way to bring prosperity to 

communities. The local electricity providers play a 

special role in assisting this development 

opportunity, although many are hesitant because 

of lack of experience with wind technologies. The 

Wind for Schools project hopes to help bridge this 

experience gap. Also, partnering with the local 

5
schools and the Wind for Schools project provides 

an opportunity for local energy organizations to 

highlight the importance of energy in our society. 

State energy office: The state energy or 

development office provides technical, financial, 

and managerial support for the project as 

appropriate through the WAC and state facilitator. 

Additionally the state energy office will assist in 

the funding the Wind for Schools projects, either 

directly or by identifying grants and other funding 

opportunities.

Each of these groups plays an active role in the 

support of the program and must work collectively 

to support its operation.

4 The Wind for Schools System

Although project organizers understood that some 

schools might be interested in implementing 

different turbine models, the focus of the Wind for 

Schools activity is to implement the technology for 

primarily educational purposes. Using these 

conditions as the primary driver, the Wind for 

Schools system must 1) be easy to implement 

and interconnect to the school’s electrical grid, 2) 

be small enough so that all of the system 

generation will be used at the school, and 3) have 

integrated data logging to provide data for 

students to consider. 

4.1 The Wind for Schools system

The following components are part of a standard

WPA Wind for Schools project system (Figure 4).

 

1) SkyStreamTM 3.7, 2.4-kW wind turbine [2] 

2) A standard 70-ft guyed or equivalent 

monopole tower (supplied by Southwest 

Windpower) 

3) Turbine electrical box and fused disconnect

4) The main foundation for the turbine and 

tower, including tower base electrical 

grounding. Specific foundation design will 

depend on the type of tower and soil 

conditions.

5) Tower guy wire foundations and electrical 

grounding. Guy wire foundations would not be 

needed with a monopole tower installation.

6) School electrical connection. The 

interconnection between the turbine and the 

school will be completed with a buried 

electrical cable. 

7) School disconnect and junction box. This 

junction box is typically located where the 

wind turbine electrical wires enter the school 

building.

8) School’s electrical power meter or 

interconnection point, where the turbine is 

electrically connected to the school’s 240-V or 

208-V electrical system. This should be 

connected on the school’s side of the 

electrical meter.

4.2 Project Costs

NREL/DOE provides financial support for the 

facilitator and WAC during the initial project years

but typically do not directly provide funding for the 

purchase of the turbine hardware. The state 

energy office identifies funding sources for the 

partial purchase of the turbine hardware. An 

installed Wind for Schools system costs between 

$15,000 and $20,000 to install commercially, 

depending primarily on the tower type selected. 

Between $7,000 and $10,000 of this amount is for 

equipment and other system-specific hardware. 

The school will provide approximately $1,500 to 

$2,500; the sale of the turbine’s environmental 

benefits will provide approximately $2,500; and 

Figure 4: Schematic of a typical Wind for Schools system installation.

6
state-based grants, local donations, or equipment 

buy-down will provide the remaining funds. Many 

project participants donate their time, and the 

local utility or co-op is strongly encouraged to 

provide in-kind and material support for the 

turbine installation. Other funding options, such as 

low- or no-interest loans, a revolving loan fund, or 

other financial assistance, may be available from 

state organizations or local benefactors. Part of 

the facilitator’s role is to identify the potential 

sources of additional state funding that may be 

applied to wind projects.

4.3 Curricula

Through the Wind for Schools program activity, 

curricula are developed and implemented at both 

the university and K-12 level. The program 

currently does not work directly with community 

colleges or other vocational programs.

One of the project goals of Wind for Schools is to 

educate college students in wind energy 

applications, a goal that requires a number of 

institutions of higher education throughout the 

United States to establish WACs, entities that 

provide the key elements of support for Wind for 

Schools within each state. 

The primary responsibilities of a WAC are to 

provide technical assistance to schools and 

develop and implement university-based wind 

energy curricula as one step toward graduating 

engineers, systems analysts, and other majors 

who are knowledgeable in the wind application 

process and motivated to pursue wind energy as 

a career. Curricula is developed and shared 

among the WACs, each typically focusing on 

specific technical areas that are the strengths of 

the respective professors and institutions.

The Wind for School systems installed at the 

primary and secondary schools play a key role in 

the development of this experience. Through the 

implementation of the projects at the schools, 

students from the WACs gain valuable experience 

in the implementation of wind projects, from 

resource assessment through site selection, 

permitting, and installation. Although these 

activities are for a small project, they mirror 

experiences that are applied on a much bigger 

scale with large projects. The WACs also address 

the need to stimulate further interest in the 

renewable sector by engaging with and fostering 

relationships between universities and K-12 

schools and recognizing the mutual benefits 

gained as university students learn not only 

through classroom instruction, but also by 

participating as “consultants-in-training.” Likewise, 

the relationship between the university and K-12 

school provide young students and their teachers 

the opportunity to mine university resources for 

ideas and assistance and to apply context to 

principles of mathematics, science, and other 

subjects that are applicable and of growing 

interest at all levels. Currently in the U.S. 

academic system, fewer students are choosing to 

enter scientific fields. Early positive experiences 

with science and engineering are more likely to 

lead to students entering scientific fields. 

Providing educational opportunities at the primary 

and secondary level is also crucial to the project’s 

aim of developing a workforce for the future. This 

aspect is completed by implementing ageappropriate curricula produced by the American 

Wind Energy Association, the NEED project [3], 

and KidWind [4]. This hands-on, interactive 

curricula is implemented through teacher training 

workshops in each of the states, sponsored by 

the Wind for Schools project. The program also 

provides teacher training science kits for use in 

the classroom.

Following further development to implement data 

systems at each of the school projects, data from 

each of the turbines will be uploaded to a central 

Wind for School data repository, allowing free 

access of the data to all schools. As part of the 

development of this data-sharing capability, 

further curricula is being developed to allow 

expanded science-based educational 

opportunities, such as comparing the output of the 

turbines at different locations and in different wind 

resource areas. It is expected that the availability 

of data from across the Wind for Schools project 

will lead to expanded curricula developed at 

individual schools or through dedicated science 

projects, all shared throughout the Wind for 

Schools network.

5 Affiliates Program

As of mid-2009, the Wind for Schools program is 

active in six states with plans for modest 

expansion. However, states and individual 

communities are interested in becoming involved 

in wind energy education. For this reason, the 

Wind for Schools project has implemented an 

affiliates activity to engage individual K-12 

schools or states to initiate educational programs 

that are modeled after the Wind for Schools 

program activities, but without specific financial 

support from the formal DOE Wind for Schools 

project. By becoming an official program affiliate, 

an institution will be provided access to program 

support functions, Web sites, and information. 

The program is organized to support individual 

schools that wish to implement wind-related 

educational curricula and install a Wind for 

7
Schools system, or states that intend to 

implement a full statewide program.

In all cases, WPA does not provide funding to 

directly support the activities of a Wind for 

Schools affiliate but would provide an appropriate 

level of technical assistance and make available 

all program resources and documentation for 

support of the program. State programs and 

individual school projects would be responsible 

for all organizational responsibilities associated 

with the implementation of an affiliates program.

6 Results

The Wind for Schools project is still in its relative 

infancy (many of the WACs began operation in 

the spring of 2008). The program is active in only 

six U.S. states: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, 

South Dakota, Montana, and Idaho. In each state, 

WACs have been implemented and classes 

(including wind technology) are offered at each 

institution. Sixty-six students graduated in fall

2008 after completing a class that included some 

amount of wind energy education. Additionally, 

during the spring 2009 semester, 61 students are 

involved in WAC activities and a total of 17 Wind 

for Schools systems, such as the one at 

Greenbush High Schools in Kansas (Figure 5), 

have been installed at host K-12 schools. Twentyseven additional host schools have been 

identified with installations expected over the 

summer and fall of 2009.

7 Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the U.S. Department of 

Energy, Wind and Hydropower Technologies 

Program and is conducted by the Wind Powering 

America Program at the National Renewable 

Energy Laboratory with the assistance of staff 

from the Idaho National Laboratory. The success 

of these activities is made possible through the 

work of the Wind for Schools state facilitators, 

staff of the WACs, and science teachers and the 

administrators at current and future Wind for 

Schools host schools, whose dedication to future 

generations makes this program possible. 

References

[1] 20% Wind Energy by 2030: Increasing Wind 

Energy’s Contribution to U.S. Electricity 

Supply. U.S. Department of Energy, July 

2008. 

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/

pdfs/41869.pdf

[2] Skystream turbine, 

http://www.skystreamenergy.com/

[3] The NEED Project, http://www.need.org/

[4] KidWind, http://www.kidwind.org/

Figure 5: Wind for School system installed at Greenbush High Schools, Kansas. 

PIX # 16245/Josh Cochran. 

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I. Baring-Gould, L. Flowers, M. Kelly, L. Barnett, and J. Miles

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REPORT NUMBER

NREL/CP-500-45473

9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR'S ACRONYM(S)

NREL

11. SPONSORING/MONITORING 

AGENCY REPORT NUMBER

12. DISTRIBUTION AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

National Technical Information Service

U.S. Department of Commerce

5285 Port Royal Road

Springfield, VA 22161

13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

14. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 Words)

As the United States moves toward a vision of greatly expanded wind energy use, the rapidly growing wind industry 

faces two challenges: a critical need for skilled workers trained in wind energy technology and the need to address 

local concerns caused by a lack of understanding of the true issues and real impacts of wind energy development. 

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind for Schools program aims to address these two critical issues. The Wind for 

Schools program works to engage local citizens in a wind energy discussion while developing a knowledge base for 

wind energy within schools. The project’s three primary goals are to (1) engage rural elementary and secondary 

school teachers and students in wind energy education, (2) equip college students in wind energy applications while 

starting a nucleus for expanded programs to provide the growing wind industry with an interested and equipped 

workforce, and (3) introduce wind energy on a small scale to communities, starting a discussion of the benefits and 

issues in using wind energy to meet the needs of the nation’s and the world’s energy future. This paper provides an 

overview of the project elements, including a description of host and collegiate school curricula developed for wind 

energy and the status of the current projects. The paper also provides focused information regarding how schools, 

regions, or countries can become involved or implement similar projects to expand the social acceptance and 

understanding of wind energy.

15. SUBJECT TERMS

wind energy; wind projects; wind for schools projects, Wind for Schools program, Wind Powering America; workforce; 

education; schools 

16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION 

OF ABSTRACT

UL

18. NUMBER 

OF PAGES

19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON

a. REPORT

Unclassified

b. ABSTRACT

Unclassified

c. THIS PAGE

Unclassified 19b. TELEPHONE NUMBER (Include area code)

Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8/98)

Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39.18