Upward Bound’s Journey to New Heights at Mount Washington Observatory 

By Jackie Bellefontaine
Photos by Erin Town

Mount Washington Observatory is excited to share the news of a new collaboration with the University of Maine’s TRIO Upward Bound program, which brought high school students for an overnight experience at the Home of the World’s Worst Weather in early May. 

The University of Maine has been hosting TRIO Upward Bound programs since 1966, providing incredible opportunities for students from low-income communities and/or first-generation college households. Through Upward Bound, students receive college preparation assistance, mentoring, and exposure to a wide variety of career paths among many other benefits at no cost.

Upward Bound was incorporated during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration as a part of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. Over the years, it has expanded to meet the needs of various student populations through the addition of programs such as the “TRIO” programs, Veterans Upward Bound, and Upward Bound Math/Science.

In recent years, Upward Bound has expanded its offerings for students interested in STEM fields. One notable opportunity is a week-long geoscience program in Juneau, affiliated with the University of Maine and the Juneau Icefield Research Program. Additionally, another summer initiative allows students to travel to Alaska’s remote North Slope, where they engage in studies of drone technology, 3D modeling, and permafrost research at Toolik Field Station, living and working alongside scientists from all over the world.

Now, Upward Bound students are able to add another field station to their list: Mount Washington Observatory (MWOBS). 

The collaboration opportunity arose when the MWOBS education team met Erin Towns— a Maine high school teacher, UMaine graduate student, and Upward Bound trip facilitator—at the “Arctic Wednesdays” teacher professional development program in February 2024. Towns is an accomplished social studies teacher who has traveled extensively to create engaging educational programs that connect Maine students with science, visual arts, and the social, political, and economic aspects of Earth’s polar regions. Mount Washington, especially in winter, closely aligns with Towns’s interests, offering a nearby, dynamic, polar-like environment that provides new resources and opportunities to expand educational programming. 

During her Arctic Wednesdays experience, Towns introduced me to UMaine’s Upward Bound programs and the incredible impact the programs have on marginalized students seeking college and career pathways. I immediately recognized this program’s alignment with MWOBS’s mission and eagerly worked with Towns to lay the groundwork for the May 2025 pilot.  

“MWOBS provides students with a truly unique experience, immersing them in a rare environment that few people have the chance to explore so closely,” Towns says. “This opportunity challenges students to step outside their comfort zones in positive ways, fostering personal growth and confidence. The sense of accomplishment and pride gained from experiences like this is invaluable, often sparking transformative, life-changing moments.” 

Through the University of Maine’s TRIO Upward Bound Math-Science program, six Maine high school students visited MWOBS to pilot the new program opportunity that will now be open to all Upward Bound students across the country.  

For the Upward Bound crew, the trip to the summit started at the base of the Mt. Washington Auto Road where Erin and I conducted a safety briefing and gear check before loading up the MWOBS passenger van and truck. As the students embarked on the 7-mile journey to the top of New England, they were immediately greeted with a taste of the mountain’s notorious conditions— and beauty. Trees rustled in the strong wind, fog rushed along the ground, and clouds swirled above as the vehicles continued to gain elevation: Signs of an “authentic” Mount Washington experience. 

The first stop of the program was at the 4,000’ mesonet station situated just off of the auto road— one of five stations that can be found along the over-seven-mile vertical profile. The mesonet consists of automated weather stations that MWOBS has established across the White Mountains for research purposes. Here, lessons on weather instrumentation began: Mount Washington, being the natural classroom that it is, provided its own lesson on its fierce conditions as the group took note of a missing propellor on the station’s anemometer— a casualty of the past winter. 

After the mesonet site lesson, Upward Bound continued to the summit where they met with even stronger winds, and denser fog. None of the students within the group had been to Mount Washington, and many hadn’t experienced summiting a mountain prior to this mini-expedition. While some visitors might’ve found these conditions to be disappointing, the students were thrilled by them: This was the adventure that was promised. 

Once settled in, the learning continued with a tour of the Sherman Adams Summit Building, a career-focused conversation with State Park Manager Patrick Hummel, and a tour of the Mount Washington Observatory weather station. Before diving into the afternoon lessons, the Upward Bound students  ventured to the top of MWOBS’ instrumentation tower to get a true taste of Mount Washington’s wind. As each student took their turn entering “the ring” at the top of New England, Jackie and Erin were able to witness these students experience something that not many people get to do. Every Upward Bound student and chaperone became captivated by Mount Washington’s weather at that moment, if they weren’t already.  

After the thrilling experience on the tower and a warm lunch cooked by the MWOBS summit volunteers, students set up in the weather station for lessons about Mount Washington’s extreme weather, and science tools such as LiDAR and photogrammetry led by Towns. The goal presented to the Upward Bound students was for each of them to produce a 3D model of a chosen meteorological tool used by the weather observers. The students began to practice making 3D models of other items found on the summit, such as a soccer ball or Waldo figurine.  

The Upward Bound group was then informed by the weather observers that there was a thunderstorm approaching, so they joined the summit crew in the weather room to watch. Although the thunderstorm diverted the summit, the time in the weather room led to conversations between the students and weather observers about careers in meteorology, Earth and climate science. After the productive discussion, MWOBS staff and the Upward Bound students went down to the living quarters to end the exciting first day with a lasagna dinner and a Mario Kart tournament in the clouds. 

Day 2 of the Upward Bound pilot was just as successful as the first. Students woke up, enjoyed another family style breakfast with the MWOBS team, and promptly went off to explore the Extreme Mount Washington Summit museum. After rejoining as a group and sharing what they found interesting in the museum, the students went back to their classroom in the sky to learn more about weather instrumentation, and science communication.  

Then, they embarked on their mission to generate 3D models of the summit’s equipment. With perseverance and problem solving, each Upward Bound student successfully produced their first 3D models. With a sense of accomplishment and an ignited interest in 3D modelling techniques, the students crafted mock social media posts to demonstrate how they’d communicate their project to the general public. 

To wrap up the program, students were able to experience the weather one last time (but with a “May the 4th” twist) before preparing for departure. With students excitedly recapping their experience on the way down, and with positive survey results in hand, Jackie and Erin were pleased to call the pilot of this unique experience a success. 

Mount Washington Observatory wishes the Upward Bound students the best on their next adventure and is eager to welcome more to the “Home of the World’s Worst Weather” as the program grows in the coming years. To learn more about the Observatory’s education programs, visit mountwashington.org/education or contact education@mountwashington.org.