REAP’s 2026 Clean Energy Olympics was our biggest yet, featuring regional events in Anchorage and Juneau, as well as a virtual competition. This year’s CEO engaged 171 students on 55 teams representing Anchorage, Wasilla, Nenana, Cantwell, Juneau, Thorne Bay, Sitka, Cordova, Nome, North Pole, Newhalen, and Fairbanks.

Alaska’s Renewable Energy Engineering Competition

The Clean Energy Olympics is Alaska’s State KidWind Challenge. Young engineers in 4th through 12th grade build model wind turbines and solar-powered homes and compete for a chance to compete in the World KidWind Challenge in Madison, Wisconsin in May. Some students have been working on their designs since fall, others only had a couple weeks in class, but they all showed up to prove their mettle.

Participating teams met with a panel of judges to present their design process and demonstrate their project’s function, tested their design’s energy output, and completed clean energy knowledge test. The Anchorage event also included an Instant Challenge where teams had to solve an engineering puzzle in limited time.

Read further to see the full results from all Clean Energy Olympics events in 2026!

The Clark Falcons eagerly test their turbine in the wind tunnel (Ana McMenamin / REAP)
Montessori Spongebob demonstrates their solar home to the judges (Ana McMenamin / REAP)

Support Alaska’s World KidWind Teams!

Congratulations to Montessori Spongebob, Sparkle Wind Pigeon, Breeze Besties, and Phlying Physh for moving on to the 2026 World KidWind Competition in Madison, WI in May! These teams will be competing against over 120 teams from the US, Taiwan, Estonia, Mexico, and Thailand.

You can help support Alaska’s teams by following the clickable links above and donating to their team travel funds through the KidWind website.

This year’s Alaska teams have big shoes to fill if they want to match the epic four-award showing from Team Alaska 2025 (Kristin Leahy)
The Sun Catz proudly display their solar home (Ana McMenamin / REAP)
The Victory Volts, defending Rookies of the Year at the 2025 World KidWind Challenge and 2026 Duct Tape Award winners, getting amped for the competition (Ana McMenamin / REAP)

Full Results

Teams with a hyperlink and asterisk (*) are competing in the World KidWind Competition.

Elementary Wind Champions

  • Wind Sharks (American Charter Academy, Wasilla)
  • Bluebirds (American Charter Academy, Wasilla)
  • The G.O.A.T.s (American Charter Academy, Wasilla)

Elementary Solar Champions

Anchorage Middle School Wind Champions

Juneau Middle School Wind Champions

  • De 3 (Thunder Mountain Middle School, Juneau)
  • REAPers (Thunder Mountain Middle School, Juneau)
  • G.S. Turbine (Thunder Mountain Middle School, Juneau)

Virtual Middle School Wind Champions

  • Wind Breakers (Watershed Charter School, Fairbanks)
  • Triple K Energy (Newhalen School)
  • Wind to a Win (Watershed Charter School, Fairbanks)

Middle School Wind Open Generator Division Champions

Middle School Solar Champions

  • Solar Sisters (American Charter Academy, Wasilla)

Anchorage High School Wind Champions

  • Full Affect (Nenana City School)
  • RT3 (Nenana City School)
  • The Twinkle Dinkle Jinkle Winkle Crew (Nenana City School)

Juneau High School Wind Champions

Virtual High School Wind Champions

  • Team Pumpkin (Nome Beltz High School)
  • Cordova (Cordova Jr/Sr High School)
  • Eco Breeze (Nome Beltz High School)

Special Recognition Awards

  • Spirit of Kidwind (sportsmanship): Sparkle Wind Pigeons and Bluebirds
  • Rookie Team of the Year: RT3
  • Radiating Vibes (teamwork): Soul of the Wind
  • Picasso (artistic design): Horizon Hunters (American Charter Academy, Wasilla), Wind Trio (Kincaid Elementary, Anchorage), and The Lady Wind Wrestlers (Thorne Bay)
  • Xtra-Tuf (resilience) : Full Affect and Clark Falcons (Clark Middle School, Anchorage)
  • Sustainability (recycled/reused materials): Montessori Spongebob
  • Duct Tape (creative solutions): Victory Volts (Romig Middle School, Anchorage)
  • Arctic Innovation: Wind Breakers
  • Baddest Team Name: Divalicious Blade Baddies (Watershed Charter School, Fairbanks)
  • Rookie Coach of the Year: Hallie Peacock (Nenana)

Instant Challenge Champions:

  • Elementary School: Montessori Spongebob
  • Middle School: Sparkle Wind Pigeons
  • High School: RT3
Fifa World Cup’s solar-powered soccer stadium did not disappoint, earning them a Elementary Middle School Champion award and an invitation to the 2026 World KidWind Competition! (Oksana Sofron)
Knowledge test time! (Ana McMenamin / REAP)
Team Spaar-Nado from Wasilla competed in the open generator division, where students can use after-market or hand-spun generators that produce epic amounts of energy (Ana McMenamin / REAP)
Team SolarVerse engineered one of the tallest turbine towers during the Elementary Instant Challenge (Leola Rutherford / ARE)

Thank you to all of the businesses, organizations, and agencies who sponsored the 2026 Clean Energy Olympics!

By Tyler KatzmarApril 20th, 2026