NWS & AMS --- Education Outreach at it's Best

The NWS & the AMS have an abundance of knowledge and resources within their organizations.  Together they provide one of the best meteorological and environmental education outreach programs available.

The NWS Mt Holly, NJ Forecast Office has been involved with education outreach for some time now, but the program has grown considerably in the last 20 years.  The AMS educational initiative has been a major contributor to this program.  Since 1996, the office has been involved with the long distance learning DataStreme courses(Atmosphere and Water in the Earth System).  These courses educate teachers in meteorology, oceanography, and hydrology.  Nearly 300 teachers have been through these graduate level science courses on the local level.

Other activities include teacher workshops, GLOBE training sessions, national and international conferences, science and earth fairs, and teacher conferences.  The New Jersey AMS Area Education Resource Agent, John Moore, has provided his

knowledge, resources, and expertise to many of these NWS activities.

Robert Wanton, the Mt. Holly, NJ NWS Education Outreach Program Director, just recently reached a milestone in his career.  In November 2006, Mr. Wanton spoke to his 100,000^th individual.  His numbers continue to climb and currently, in over 1150 presentations, he has spoken to over 110,000 individuals ranging in age from 2 to 102.

Mr. Wanton and Mr. Moore have also been regular attendees at the Annual AMS Meeting and have participated in the WeatherFest portion of the meeting since it's inception.

By utilizing the resources of the NWS and the AMS, along with other local science resources(including media weather broadcasters), the education outreach program in the NWS Mt. Holly, NJ Forecast Office has grown into one of the most ambitious in the nation.