Peak Perspectives: Professional Development on Mount Washington 

By MWOBS Staff

As the Mount Washington Observatory (MWOBS) Education team heads into a new year and a busy second half of the school calendar, we are excited to highlight not only the expansion of programs offered to youth both in the academic year and in the summer, but also professional learning opportunities for educators.  

To start, K-12 programs for students and teachers have grown to offer more than 76 school day, 41 after-school, and 25 field trips serving over 4,800 students in 2024. To complement these, we were excited to offer 10 professional development programs serving almost 40 teachers this year, with the exciting addition of summer programs to accompany our much-loved Arctic Wednesdays.  

Peak Perspectives (summer) and Arctic Wednesdays (winter) invite teaching professionals to get out of the classroom and experience science education from the summit of Mount Washington. Guided by our Education team, they aim to invigorate an educator’s interest and confidence teaching weather and climate concepts aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Moreover, hosting teachers on the summit of Mount Washington alongside our scientific staff helps to provide strong connections to science and scientists in the “real world.”

To that end, educators participating in the Arctic Wednesdays program shadow MWOBS weather operations staff on their wintry trek to the 6,288 foot summit of Mount Washington via snow tractor. Weather Observer/Education Specialists serve as the primary guide as educators experience a “typical” day for scientists in not-so-typical science jobs.

Educators witness the stark changes in the mountain environment as they climb, tour the summit weather station space, and learn about all of the components and people who keep operations humming at MWOBS. In addition to taking it all in, educators are encouraged to take advantage of the unique experience to connect virtually with their students back in the classroom and test student-derived projects in the natural laboratory that is Mount Washington. 

For educators looking for a different, yet similarly impactful learning experience, the Peak Perspectives program welcomes those looking to learn overnight at the summit weather station in the summer months. Offered for the first time this past summer, two separate overnight sessions supported 16 K-12 educators from across the region to engage in learning experiences that could be brought back to the classroom.

Educators constructed weather journals, collected and analyzed weather data, predicted short-term weather conditions, and evaluated their work with MWOBS meteorologists advising along the way. Community Science resources, such as the GLOBE Observer App’s Cloud Observer protocol, also made for an excellent excuse to get outside and report cloud observations to ground-truth NASA satellites. Last but certainly not least, educators got to show off their artistic skills to enliven climate change data through art.  

Through these programs, formal and informal K-12 educators explore hands-on, authentic ways to connect their students to weather and climate science learning that meet rigorous standards such as the NGSS.  

Holly Munce, an educator in the Berlin, NH school district, wrote of her March 2024 trip:  

“My day on Mount Washington was a profound learning experience and has left an impression on my teaching philosophy.  Returning to my classroom, I hope to develop a curiosity in my learners and harness their excitement about asking and answering questions while having the unique opportunity to have learning sessions from some amazingly talented MWOBS staff and we will even take a field trip to the home of the world’s worst weather.”       

You can read about more educators’ experiences in the Arctic Wednesdays Community Blog.  

As Arctic Wednesdays enters its eighth year of existence (minus one pandemic year) educators have been applying to the program in growing numbers, peaking at 90 applicants for 12 spots this past year. The need to provide professional learning opportunities at other times of the year was clearly evident. The Peak Perspectives program, with support from the Dorr Foundation and NASA Space Grant, was developed and offered in 2024, and will now continue as an offering in summer of 2025. 

“Providing professional learning opportunities for educators is such an important way for the Observatory to support young learners,” says MWOBS Director of Education Brian Fitzgerald. “While the Observatory is committed to continue to offer programs directly to students in variety of means, we know that building up teachers across our region has an even bigger impact. If we can give teachers the spark and the resources to teach weather and climate, we know their students ultimately benefit.”  

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