Intermediate students at Botelle School were surprised last week by a visit from Bob Maxon, NBC 30 meteorologist.
The children are studying extreme weather—an apt subject in a winter that has brought weeks of snow and frigid temperatures and promises still more for this weekend.
Maxon came to the school at the invitation of teacher Nicole Partyka, where he spent more than an hour explaining weather concepts, answering students’ questions and showing them how meteorologists observe and interpret weather data.
He shared stories from his childhood in Oswego, N.Y., including memories of historic snowstorms, and even ventured a prediction of whether the children would have school on Friday. (They did.)
The children were familiar with Maxon because each morning they watch and discuss his daily weather forecast, a routine that Partyka began two years ago for her unit on weather. She said the students are noticeably disappointed when Maxon has a day off.
Partyka uses the weather unit to blend reading, writing and science studies for her combined third- and fourth-grade class. Throughout the unit, students research questions about weather by reading grade-level texts, identifying main ideas, key details and vocabulary. They then use their notes to write short compositions. At the end of the unit, each student publishes a “book” focused on a specific weather phenomenon, bringing together everything they have learned.
Following the visit, the students were featured in a segment on Maxon’s morning forecast. He termed his time in Norfolk “awesome” and commented, “Norfolk is small, you know, and the school is the center of warmth for the community.”