Our Lady
Comforter of the Afflicted School
Accredited by the New England Association of Schools & Colleges

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WALTHAM - Students at Our Lady's School are all abuzz about barometric pressure after the installation of a meteorology station called the WeatherBug.

Since the National Weather Service's certified installation, the WeatherBug equipment atop the school building has been used to constantly send up-to-date readings to more than 8,000 weather tracking stations across the country.

"I believe we are the only weather station in Waltham and surrounding areas," said Principal Chandra Minor."

The information obtained by the station, which includes barometric pressure, wind-chill and dew point readings, is transmitted and analyzed by professional meteorologists to predict the weather, said Minor.

The up-to-the-minute results are also available to students in the school's computer lab.

And, students can monitor current weather conditions, such as the winter snow that will soon make repeat appearances across New England, students in the school can link the visible aspects of weather to the scientific explanations, such as a drop in barometric pressure and an increase in humidity, said Minor.

"If we are experiencing weather, they have the data to confirm the weather we are experiencing," Minor said. "It has really piqued the interest of many of our students."

Accompanying the WeatherBug apparatus is an extensive amount of interactive computer activities, curriculum and tools.

Fourth-grader Samantha McKean said, "I like the lessons. They are really fun because they are done on computers instead of textbooks."

For some students, WeatherBug has already provided easy-to-understand explanations for what students hear adults talk about every day.

"I've learned a lot of (vocabulary) words from it," said fourth-grader Leanne Vitone. "When I watch the news, I can now know what (meteorologists) mean."

The WeatherBug came to Our Lady's after Minor heard about the equipment and the educational benefits. However, the school did not have the money to purchase the equipment.

After discussing with parents the desire to install Waltham's only weather station at the school, donations slowly began trickling in, said Minor. Eventually, a student's grandparent stepped forward and offered to match every donation dollar for dollar, and three months after learning about the WeatherBug, it arrived at the school in the spring and was dubbed the Lady Bug.

Following the installation of the equipment and the adjustments to a new school year, in early November certain classes organized an assembly to introduce the WeatherBug to the rest of the school.

"We presented what it was like to the whole school," said fourth-grade teacher Vanessa Hardgrove, who has taken a leadership on the WeatherBug's implementation.

Since its introduction to the school, students in Hardgrove's class have gotten a jumpstart on WeatherBug's schoolwide immersion efforts. The technology has prompted math lessons relative to dew point and science lessons regarding the effects of air pressure on cold fronts, said Hardgrove.

"The kids have been talking about the WeatherBug a lot,"said Hardgrove. "As (winter) storms are approaching it makes it very exciting."

To further expand the WeatherBug's reach across a typical school day, Hardgrove said sixth-graders will assist younger students and together present morning weather reports to the school using the software's generated scripts.

After just a few lessons in Hardgrove's class, fourth-grader Brendan Devlin has already expanded his weather knowledge.

"Before the WeatherBug, if you asked me what barometric pressure was, I would have no idea," Devlin said.

Kerri Roche can be reached at 781-398-8009 or at kroche@cnc.com.