Two Prairie Rose School Division Schools (PRSD) participated and gained standing at the Skills Canada Manitoba (SCM) Annual Model Wind Turbine Competition.

SCM, the Certified Technologists and Technicians Association of Manitoba (CTTAM) and Red River College (RRC) hosted the 10th annual event as part of National Trades and Technology Week, as well as engaging students.

PRSD St. Paul’s Collegiate placed third, was awarded best design, and broke the record of highest volts generated, Miami School placed first.

Students from Miami were grade 10 Tavish Stockford, Jillian Livingston, and Nicole Blagden.

The group had competed last year with Stockford explaining they didn't do too well the first round but improved the second.

Livingston shares that after last year they didn't take it too hard, saying it was a learning experience and that this year they went in focused, with a plan to win.

"This year we went in and we really tried to focus on how we win the competition. We weren't worried about making ours look really nice, we were just worried about making it produce the most energy."

14 teams from around Manitoba had two hours and a set amount of material to build a model wind turbine, with the goal of highest average voltage in three tests over two rounds.

Miami was very excited to be able to take home first place this year, however, Livingston says the experience goes beyond just winning.

"It’s not just that it feels really good to win, it’s nice that we proved we can compete with the big schools."

Blagden continues, saying even though they are from a rural community they can do just as well as the Winnipeg schools.

Grade 9 and 10 students had two hours to build a wind turbine out of the materials given, with goal of generating the highest average voltage