A team of 10 innovative students from North Cross School, known as the “Robotic Raiders,” achieved a remarkable feat on May 22: they clinched the World KidWind Challenge Middle School Solar Championship. Their winning project, a high-tech, solar-powered transformation of the school’s chicken coop, outperformed competitors from across the U.S., Asia, and Mexico.
At the competition in Phoenix, AZ, 131 student teams from 26 U.S. states, Taiwan, and Mexico showcased their small-scale wind turbines and solar structure designs. The North Cross team’s ingenuity shone through their choice to upgrade the school’s chicken coop over the course of the academic school year. Their goal was to encourage more prolific egg laying and improve classroom access to the school’s four chickens. To achieve this, they worked many hours before school and on weekends with their coach Zack DeMoss to add a water filter and heater, solar panels, batteries, a charge controller, and multiple cameras to the coop.
The students who designed the winning project are Cara Millott, Liam Gibbs, Chase Ratliff, Garrett Adams, William Finney, Anderson Glickfield, Gavin Gardner, Sutton Taylor, John Finney, and Reid Thomas.Â
About North Cross School
North Cross School is an independent, nonsectarian school serving students in early childhood through 12th grade from across the Roanoke Valley, the region, and the world.
Our mission is to inspire a community of intellectually curious learners to think critically, act with integrity, and lead with courage.
