'Classroom Close-Up' for WAMS Science Students

A group of William Allen Middle School (WAMS) students are about to enjoy their 15 minutes of fame.

Eighth-grade students in the school’s WeatherBug class visited Palmyra Cove Nature Park in October for a comprehensive science lesson, while a video crew from the New Jersey Education Association’s Classroom Close-Up—a magazine program focused on projects happening in public schools throughout the state—tagged along.

Click here to read more about the district's WeatherBug program.

WeatherBug teacher Melissa Lock said the primary purpose of the trip was to give the kids real-world, “hands-on” experience to stoke their interest in science, and particularly meteorology.

“It was a great exposure to give these kids an opportunity to take what they’ve been learning in-house and see it in the real world,” said Lock, “because the big focus is for them to be able to make real-world connections to what we do … They really started to appreciate what it is that they were learning about and having an interest of, ‘Well, I might want to do something like that.’”

The WAMS students journeyed to the park along with students from the Burlington County Institute of Technology and Drexel University, all of who were also versed in other fields of science.

Fellow teacher Michael Berner, who also took the trip to Palmyra Cove, added, “One of the things we’re trying to do with the WeatherBug class is to get students to understand that science is out there and in real life, and primarily the science that we’re exposing them to is the weather.”

The WAMS trip originally aired on NJTV in December, and Berner and Lock said they brought the kids together to watch their moment in the spotlight.

“They really get a kick out of the idea that they were on television,” said Berner. “It was neat.”

The show featuring the WAMS trip to Palmyra Cove will air again today at 7:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Classroom Close-Up airs on NJTV. Click here to find out how you can watch.