Wind for Change with Meteorologist Justin Berk
Wind for Change is a classroom education program and fundraiser coordinated by meteorologist and Stevenson Professor, Justin Berk. Justin will visit your school, teach your class a complimentary science lesson about weather, and coordinate a wind speed contest among students. His presentation is easily adjusted for various ages, and can be tailored to emphasize current classroom topics. Justin finds this program works best with grades K-8, and jokes that high school students are sometimes “too cool to play” in some of the interactive demonstrations. Season 1 of Wind For Change raised over $19,000 for the Cool Kids Campaign, and Season 2 is well on its way to raising $40,000!
How to invite Justin to your school
Email WindForChange@coolkidscampaign.org. Try to schedule Justin on a Thursday between 10-11 a.m. He is able to handle a large assembly if a grade has multiple science classes.
Justin’s school calendar availability
For the 2011-2012 academic year, Justin has 24 potential spots for school visits. This breaks down to approximately three per month, with one school scheduled per week and one week off. See our scheduling page for more information.
How the Wind For Change program works:
- Two weeks before Justin visits your school, teachers explain the Wind for Change contest to students and ask for participants in a wind speed contest. Participating students take home a Wind Speed Pledge Sheet and solicit sponsorships from families and friends. (Sponsorships start at 50¢ per mph. Students can also collect a flat donation of $5 or more to participate. Teachers are invited to seek pledges as well.)
- After Justin teaches the science lesson to everyone in your class, those students participating in the wind contest are given two chances to blow into a hand-held anemometer to blow to the highest wind speed they can. The competition is simple and teachers and students really get into it! (Involves technique and lung power; top speed in a pre-K class is around 20 mph, while Justin’s personal best is 52 mph!) Visit the Wind for Change Facebook page for fun photos and videos of Justin’s previous visits.
- After the contest, students are presented with a certificate displaying their highest speeds. They have one week to collect pledges and return them to school. A prepaid envelope is provided to the teacher to easily forward the funds to Cool Kids Campaign.
- The day following Justin’s visit, he will announce that school’s winners during his morning broadcast on WMAR (Baltimore, channel 2).
- Ms. Folio, 5th grade teacher, Essex Elementary (Baltimore, MD)
Photos from Season 2 of Wind For Change (visit to Essex Elementary) (Facebook–no log-in required)
Grand Prize – Hanging with Justin in the TV Studio!
The 2011-2012 school year has been divided into a Fall and Spring competition. We will select one winner from each competition – highest recorded wind speed and most money raised. That means four winners total will receive the grand prize – an invitation to hang out with meteorologist Justin Berk at a television studio! Winners and their immediate families will receive a guided tour of the station.
Pictured: Season 1 winners in the studio with Justin Berk and Sharon Perfetti, Cool Kids Campaign Executive Director.
