Who We Are

The Illinois Wind for Schools team is comprised of expert personnel from the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs at Western Illinois University, the Department of Engineering Technology at Western Illinois University, the Center for Renewable Energy at Illinois State University, and the College of Education at Illinois State University.

Current Schools

The Illinois Wind for Schools program is currently underway with three pilot schools: Ridgeview CUSD #19 in Colfax, IL; Elmwood CUSD #322 in Elmwood, IL; and Fulton Country CUSD #3 in Cuba, IL.

Schools selected for the 2012 - 2013 school year are Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, Chicago Public Schools #299, Cook County; Southwestern Middle and High School, Southwestern Community Unit School District (CUSD) #9, Macoupin County; Riverview Grade School, Riverview Community Consolidated School District (CCSD) #2, Woodford County; Galva High School, Galva School District #224, Henry County; Astoria Junior High School, Astoria CUSD #1, Fulton County; and Plano High School, Plano CUSD #88, Kendall County. For more information please read the press release on the Western Illinois Unversity website.

How to Get Involved

The application period for 2012-2013 is now closed. Applications for the 2013-2014 school year will be made available in Fall 2012.

The ILWFS program will hold a public workshop on Thursday, June 14, 2012 at Illinois State University, Normal, IL for any Illinois middle school or high school educator interested in incorporating wind energy topics into his or her classroom.

Register for the Workshop

During the workshop the ILWFS team will present a background of the energy and wind energy industries, wind energy fundamental principles and curriculum and methods for integrating energy and wind energy materials into the classroom. The workshop will be free of charge. Registration information will be available in May 2012.

The program addresses Illinois Learning Standards Goals 7 and 10 in Mathematics (Estimation and Measurement; Data Analysis and Probability), and Goals 11, 12 and 13 in Science (Inquiry and Design; Concepts and Principles; Science, Technology and Society).