WHEREAS, the Bath County Public Schools KidWind teams performed admirably at the 2018 National KidWind Challenge, with the Bath County High School team earning a first-place award; and

WHEREAS, the National KidWind Challenge is a unique wind-energy-based engineering competition; the teams from Bath County Public Schools, two from Bath County High School and one from Valley Elementary School, faced worthy competitors from 60 schools throughout the nation; and

WHEREAS, the Bath County Public Schools teams designed and built wind turbines that were presented to a panel of expert judges and completed a knowledge test, as well as two onsite engineering challenges; and

WHEREAS, the Redwood Express Bath County High School team (Austin Dean, Charles Offer, and Jacob McComb), placed first in the high school division with a turbine design that produced an incredible 638 joules in the competition's high-speed wind tunnel; and

WHEREAS, Bath County High School's second team, the Wind Raiders (Matthew McCune, Kleigh Sharp, and Tyler Thompson), produced 590 joules, and placed fifth overall; the members of both teams made contributions to the winning turbine design and supported each other throughout the competition; and

WHEREAS, Ed Ozols, technology supervisor for Bath County Public Schools, was named Coach of the Year for his exceptional leadership and diligent work to make Bath County Public Schools a pioneer in science and engineering education related to renewable energy; and

WHEREAS, the victory is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the student participants, the guidance of coaches, faculty, and staff, and the enthusiastic support of the entire Bath County community; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate of Virginia, That the Bath County Public Schools KidWind teams hereby be commended for their performance at the 2018 National KidWind Challenge; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the Bath County Public Schools KidWind teams as an expression of the Senate of Virginia's admiration for the teams' achievements and best wishes for the future.