Summer program introduces offshore wind industry and the potential for future careers
By Mia Taveras
SAFE’s outreach to the community helped support the popularity of the KidWind summer program amongst North Shore students for three years! The week-long program at Massachusetts Maritime Academy includes teachers and students who spend the week involved in hands-on learning about offshore wind power and the opportunities this industry offers for future careers.
The KidWind Offshore Wind Academy is a collaboration between Self-Reliance (a women-led energy nonprofit on Cape Cod), University of Massachusetts, University of Delaware, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and Mass Maritime Academy. This summer’s program was funded by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (CEC). Students attend the program for free. It is a fabulous opportunity for the youth in our region to be exposed to offshore wind career pathways as Salem’s port undergoes development as an offshore wind marshaling yard.
As soon as SAFE heard about KidWind Offshore Wind Academy, we wanted to assure that Salem students had a chance to attend. SAFE promoted the KidWind opportunity in both Spanish and English through Salem and Lynn public school newsletters that go out to parents. We also worked with the Career and Technical Education (CTE) program at Salem High and key staff in Lynn public schools to more directly reach students. Finally, we reached out to over 30 partner organizations in Essex County to spread the word. In 2022, one student from Salem attended the program; last summer, we saw a 10-fold increase in North Shore participation.
Mia Taveras told us about her experience at the week-long program this summer, and encourages other high school students to participate in future years.
Hello! My name is Mia Taveras and I participated in this year’s KidWind project. KidWind is all about learning about renewable energy, specifically wind energy. We spent 5 days down at Buzzards Bay this year learning about wind energy, how to measure it, and we even got to build our own wind turbines. We had 32 total kids this year and stayed in dorms at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and got to see the wonderful campus, and even went on field trips to learn about different career paths. Let me give you a rundown on what we learned.
We spent the first 2 days going through orientation and getting to know each other and staff. We also played some ice-breaking activities to get used to teamwork, which we needed throughout the week. We really got into planning and building on Tuesday and Wednesday. We were divided into groups of 2 in order to build our turbines. What I really liked at the beginning of the building process was that they handed us the nacelle, which holds all the working parts of the turbine, and let us figure out how to build it ourselves.
It was a little difficult in the beginning, but my partner and I managed to finish it by the end of the day. We then started to actually work on the base of the turbine until Friday which was when we put our finishing touches on it. My partner and I decided to do an offshore turbine which means it would be in the water so we had the added challenge of not only making the turbine work, but also have it float and stay upright on its own in the water. It took a lot of trial and error but the finished product was very much worth it.
In the end, I definitely recommend checking out KidWind and applying to spend a week learning about renewable energy. Not only is it a good opportunity to learn more about our environment and how things work, but also a great opportunity to learn about different careers and how to help our planet. Thanks for reading, and I hope to see some of you next year!
Edited by Jessica Valatka, a member of SAFE’s communications workgroup.
Photo credit: Mia Taveras