April 30, 2013
Dear State Farm Grant Committee, As director of the KidWind Project I’m writing to express my strong support for Dan Whisler’s application to the State Farm Youth–Directed Service Learning Action Grant. It is clear through his dedication to the SHS Chevy Volt Project and our WindSenators program that Dan is committed to helping his students and larger Kansas community understand climate change and impacts that transportation and energy use can have on our larger global ecosystem. He does this in a positive fashion helping others see what is possible in the future if we commit to making some changes in our daily lives. Dan has been part of the KidWind WindSenator network for close to a year now and has already connected with 100s of teachers and students in his home state of Kansas through teacher training workshops, student driven challenges and presentations. He has been able to leverage his connection with KidWind to raise additional funds to provide more than 50 teachers in his area with tools and equipment so they could teach about wind energy in the classroom. He does all of this while being a full time teacher, track coach, husband, and parent. Dan is part of our KidWind team. This team of teachers, engineers, and scientists is committed to promoting the elegance of wind power through affordable tools and training programs that challenge, engage, and inspire students and adults of any age. We work to engage minds around renewable energy science through hands on activities in formal and informal settings. Over the last 10 years we have trained over 9000 teachers all over the world. These teachers impact over 600,000 students each year, who subsequently impact their parents. We strongly believe that by providing teachers with high quality curricula which engages students, we can affect conversations and understandings at the family level through conversation and student projects. Dan is one of those rare teachers that is able to do it all. Create robust and rich educational experiences for students, helps his fellow teachers become better educators and mobilizes the support of local businesses and organizations to help fund the ambitious initiatives planned for his community of learners. I am confident that if Dan wins this grant opportunity he will use those same skills to build a great program around solar energy and other energy projects that will initiated by his students. KidWind also looks forward to helping him with materials and other support as he seeks to extend these experiences to the larger educational community in Kansas and around the US. Michael Arquin 800 Transfer Road, Suite 30B Saint Paul, MN 55114 Founder & Director – KidWind Project http://www.kidwind.org (651) 917‐0079