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2024-2025 Clean Energy Fellows: Pacific Northwest Offshore Wind Cohort

This cohort of educators from Oregon and Washington developed localized K-12 offshore wind curriculum. These lessons are designed to engage students with the stakeholders and unique challenges of floating offshore wind in the region. This small cohort worked collaboratively to evaluate existing tools, create localized lessons, and adapt to challenges around this emerging technology.

Photo Gallery

A student in a black hoodie and ball cap with yellow accents kneels on the floor next to a KidWind turbine. He is adjusting strings attached to a paper cup and the turbine via a spool. The wind turbine has 5 hand-cut blades taped to dowels and is sitting on the floor in front of a black box fan resting on a rolling chair.
A photo of poker chips on the floor. A red line of chips extends one chip longer than three floor tiles on the left. On the right, blue chips are lined up across one tile and two chips onto the second.
A sketch on graphing paper in a notebook shows the detailed components of a wind turbine exterior and interior. Labeled parts that can be read are: Hub, Nacelle, Anemometer, Wind Vane, Tower, Main Shaft, Pitch System, Hub, Rotar, Brake, Yaw System. In the background is a tablet with a color cutt-away of a wind turbine with labels. The viewable labels are: Wind vane, Generator, Yaw system.
A picture of a LEGO model The baseplate has land, a river, and more land. In the water are 2 tall wind turbines surrounded by yellow bricks and connected with a LEGO tube. On the land are three smaller turbines a grey structure and grey plates and friends figure.
Photo over a student's shoulder where she is working on a tablet. The tablet has color adjustments and a wind turbine image.
A student uses a tool to make an adjustment to a yellow item with a dowel sticking out of it. Next to the item is the base of a KidWind turbine.
A student with a grey jacket, black face mask and brown hat stands behind a KidWind turbine sitting on a tan table. The student is adjusting something the opposite of the connection hub from the spool which has a paper cup hanging from it by string. The turbine does not have a blade hub attached.
A student notebook sits open in front of a propped up tablet. On the tablet is a pie chart, notes, and a pros/cons chart. To the left of the chart is a picture labeled Offshore Wind Power, and part of picture labeled Land-based wind power. In the notebook is student writing and a drawing of a wind turbine with 4 blades. A yellow mechanical pencil rests on the notebook.
Two girls rest their heads in their hands as they stare at a black hub with 6 dowels sticking out of it. Next to the hub is a KidWind turbine with a paper cup attached to a spool. Both girls have pink paper. The girl on the right is holding a pencil and resting her elbow on a white poster board.
A student in a black hoodie braces a KidWind turbine in front of a black box fan sitting on a chair. The turbine has 6 hand cut wooden blades taped to dowels.
Two hands hold a screwdriver and are inserting a screw into a yellow circle that is obscured by the hands. It is attached to a teal mounting apparatus. On the far side of the device another student with short brown hair and a white shirt looks closely at a yellow gear.
On a grey classroom table sits a wind turbine model with a single piece red 3 blade front. Behind it is a multimeter and some poker chips. Behind the tray of poker chips red chips are laid out in two rows on the table. The row on the right is twice as long as the row on the left.
A LEGO model. On an island printed set of baseplates is a brown LEGO house with a black LEGO plate mounted near the roof. A grey tower and a grey and brown bunker building are also on the island. In the water are two wind trubines and sea plants. Across the water is another island with plants and two smaller wind turbines.
A top down photo of two students facing each other sitting in chairs. They are both holding a black plastic hub with 6 dowel. 2 blades have been attached on the near and near right dowel with masking tape. One student attaches a third blade with packing tape.

Additional Info

Collaborative Partners

Puget Sound Energy
Peninsula Light
PGE

Funding Partners

Bonneville Power Administration

Kirsten Brent Headshot

“  Participating in the Clean Energy Fellows program has been the most impactful professional development experience of my career. The fellowship deepened my understanding of sustainable energy and provided invaluable support in developing classroom lessons and acquiring instructional materials to help students understand the abstract topic of energy. The knowledge and experience I gained through the program contributed meaningfully to the successful renewal of my National Board Certification for Teaching“

Kirstin Brent

2024-2025 Clean Energy Fellows: PNW Offshore Wind Cohort & 2023-2024 Clean Energy Fellows: PNW Power Grid Cohort

Meet the Clean Energy Fellows

Bryan Coyle Headshot
Bryan Coyle

Sheridan High School, Sheridan OR

Bryan Coyle is a high school science teacher in the little town of Sheridan, OR. As the only science teacher in the high school, he has to teach a diverse number of subjects, but one of his favorites is Marine Science. Sheridan is less than a forty minute drive to the Oregon Coast, and many of the students may find themselves in careers pertinent to the coastal forestry and fisheries industry.
Given that wind power will soon be a major economic force in the region, Bryan wants his students to be on the forefront of that industry. Bryan is working with others to establish a Career Training Facility in their district and would love to see Wind Power technology to be taught there. The demand for Wind related jobs on the Oregon Coast will grow in the future, and Bryan wants to give his students the opportunity to take advantage of this growth.

Kirsten Brent Headshot
Kirstin Brent

Harbor Ridge Middle School, Gig Harbor WA

Kirstin Brent has been teaching for 25 years. She really enjoys creating lessons that are tangible for students using the design engineering process. She love the outdoors, especially hiking and swimming. Through teaching, Kirstin wants to empower her students to become sustainable consumers and producers of energy to create a better world for all.

Kelly Evans Headshot
Kelly Evans

Spanaway Middle School, Tacoma WA

With 17 years of experience teaching various grade levels, Kelly currently teach 8th grade ELA and STEAM electives. As a mom of three soccer-loving kids, she spend much of her time on the field, but also enjoys outdoor activities like hiking, kayaking, and photography. Her passion for hands-on learning led her to discover the fascinating world of wind energy while searching for an engaging engineering challenge for her students. Excited by the potential of clean energy, Kelly eagerly joined the Offshore Wind Cohort as part of the Clean Energy Fellows program to deepen her understanding of wind energy and bring innovative lessons to her classroom.