PHOENIX — ABC15 Meteorologist Jorge Torres brought Kidcasters to the Phoenix Elementary School District campus, where two classes took turns delivering the weather on camera.
The students learned from a teacher who has seen some weather of her own.
“I actually worked for five years in Mozambique, Africa, and five years in Saudi Arabia, where I got to deal with the dust storms,” said Jessica Boland, a fourth-grade teacher at Whittier.
Boland has driven through dust storms in the desert. She lived through an earthquake in Indonesia. On a trip to Uganda, she spent about an hour with a family of silverback gorillas. One of them got curious.
“I had one of the teenage silverbacks actually come up and touch me and grab my arm,” Boland said. “Of course, my entire family was saying this is a great photo op, which we do have. I don’t think it was a great photo op for me.”
After all that, she came home to Arizona. She could have taught anywhere. She picked Whittier.
“I handpicked Whittier as the school that I wanted to teach at,” Boland said. “I feel as though the students here deserve the best teaching and the best teachers that they can possibly get.”
Her class is in the middle of a weather unit, so KidCasters paid a visit. Some of the students are quiet. Some are shy. They stepped up anyway.
“Some of my students are a little bit reluctant or shy, and I think they did an extraordinary job,” Boland said. “They brought their confidence today, which is amazing.”
“The students are critical thinkers, so they keep me on my toes with questions, which is great, because then they can see that I’m a learner as well,” she also said.
The weather unit has a few of them dreaming big.
“I have a few boys that want to be storm chasers, like tornado chasers,” Boland said.
She tells her students to travel if they ever get the chance. For now, she says the best part is watching them grow.
“Oh my gosh, I know this. I’m confident. I’ve learned something that I can take with me,” Boland said. “I think that’s the best gift that a student can give you.”
Whittier Elementary is just a few years away from its 100th birthday. Boland has already invited Kidcasters back for the celebration.
