Eighth Grade Explores Meteorology & Media at King 5 News

Last week, the eighth grade class took an exciting field trip to Seattle, connecting our current Meteorology block with real-world applications.

Our day began with lunch at Gasworks Park, where students ran up to the top of Kite Hill, eating together while gazing across Lake Union at the Seattle skyline and the Space Needle. Many flew kites in the brisk wind while others watched seaplanes take off and land—an outdoor prelude to an afternoon of weather and flight.

From there, we traveled to the King 5 News station, where we were warmly welcomed by meteorologist Leah Pezzetti. This trip embodied what eighth grade is all about: pulling back the veil. So often, we take things like clouds, weather reports, or the evening news for granted. But in this stage of learning, we begin to ask: What’s really happening? How does this work? And who are the people behind it?

At King 5, students saw first-hand where meteorologists, anchors, investigative journalists, and technicians work together to produce the news and we learned that their meteorologists create their own forecasts—unlike most anchors, they don’t read from a teleprompter. Instead, they synthesize complex data and adjust constantly for local phenomena like the Olympic Rain Shadow, which national models often miss.

We also discovered the personal stories that brought meteorologists to their work. For example, one of King 5’s meteorologists, Ashley Ruiz, was inspired to pursue the field after experiencing Hurricane Katrina as a young person. Her story helped our students see the deep human motivations that can shape a career.

The class met Christy Moreno, President and General Manager of the whole station, toured the different departments, met anchors and investigative reporters, saw the technology behind the scenes, and learned what happens if something goes wrong on live television. The students even had the chance to practice delivering a weather forecast on camera in the actual newsroom—a highlight of the day!