Thanks again to Mrs. Ryan at South Tama Elementary School!  Mrs. Ryan invited me to come to class and spend some time reading with her students.  This was part of the Read Across America program, and I was very happy to visit with the kids.  Reading is a big part of my job, and it’ll be a big part of life for these young folks, too.  They were great listeners…and I enjoyed my time in Tama.

Click here to see the South Tama kids saying hello!

South Tama Elementary School

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/japan-quake-2011/beforeafter.htm

Pretty impressive stuff.  Move your computer’s mouse right and left over the photos to see before/after images.

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Many thanks to the fine folks at East Elementary in Waukon.  I was able to visit with the 5th graders again this year.  We talked about the tsunami that hit Japan and saw how much power there is in nature.  We also talked about severe local storms and tornadoes.  The students were very good listeners…and they had (as always!) some excellent questions.

During my visit I was happy to meet Mr. Harvey Estebo, one of the teachers at East Elementary.  Mr. Estebo knows how difficult it is to forecast the weather in Northeast Iowa…so to help me in my job he gave me my very own Weather Rock.  What a guy that Harvey is!  He also included a sheet of insturctions on how to use the Weather Rock.  For example, if there is a shadow under the rock, it is a sunny day.  If the rock is wet, it is raining.  If the rock is swinging wildly, it is very windy outside.  Mr. Estebo claims 100% accuracy with the Weather Rock.  Hey, I’ll take whatever help I can get!  Thanks, Harvey…you made my day!

East Elementary in Waukon

Still lots of snow on the ground in Waukon!

Jeff and Mr. Estebo with the 100% accurate Weather Rock!

Click here to see the Waukon 5th graders saying hello!

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I was happy to head to Cascade on Wednesday, March 2.  Ms. Knepper’s class has been learning about the weather, and they had lots of stories to tell me.  We looks at pictures of clouds and learned about different kinds of storms.  We talked about how you need to get down low for some storms (tornadoes) and how you need to get up high for other storms (floods).  Thanks to the fine folks at Anquin School…I enjoyed my time in Cascade.

Click here to see the Cascade students saying hello

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In years past, whenever I planned to visit the students in Plainfield we’d have a huge storm with heavy snow and strong wind.  School would be cancelled, roads would be closed.  One year it took us 4 tries before we finally got together.  This year wasn’t the greatest weather, but at least we made it on the first attempt!  Thanks to Ms. Lehman and the fine folks in Plainfield.  The 5th graders had lots of good questions about the weather…they are always excellent listeners!  They looked good on TV, too!

Click here to see Plainfield students I

Click here to see Plainfield students II

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