NOCTILUCA Spring 2016 Vol.XXI Issue 11

FEATURES Appleton, Wisconsin Spring 2016 Vol. XXI

Issue II

Page 8

H umans of n ortH

Flom, Shadick’s love of meteorology, from page 5

“All kids, all teach- ers, all adults, anybody should continue to learn about things that they find interesting.” -Mr. Andrew Shadick tween a trained weather/storm spotter and a storm chaser, which some have heard is the hobby that Mr. Shadick has. “I have gone out and followed storms, but I’m not a trained storm chaser. That’s some- thing that you would have to go to a trained meteorol- Martin Poretti is used to moving around the Western Hemisphere. He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and has moved twice since. Recently, they found out that they’re moving, yet again, back to Georgia next July. He lived in Argentina for six years before being moved to a rough part of At- lanta, Georgia in the United States. “When I first moved to America I stayed in a hotel for a week because I was too young to help my parents set up boxes, but when I moved here we got rid of all the boxes and unpacked in around three days. Not only did I have no friends but I also was trying new foods.” Twelve years later, he moved to the house he lives in here in Appleton, Wisconsin. He likes moving because of the experiences you get out of it, meeting new people, and the new cultures. The cultures of the places that the Poretti family has lived have differed a lot. In Argentina, there wasn’t as much technology as there is in other parts of the world. It’s much colder here then it is in Argentina and Georgia. The food is very different between the countries. In Ar- gentina, they eat homemade The National Weather Ser- vice needs spotters so that they can receive accurate in- formation that can be relayed to the public. When aver- age snowfall is reported, it’s based off of the numbers giv- en to them by the trained spot- ters, and they take the average of those numbers and release it to the newscasters to report. There is a difference be-

America, “I went to a school where they thought I was stu- pid because I didn’t read as fast as the others even though I knew Spanish and was the best in the class for math. I had a hard time adapting but I didn’t give up, making it worth it in the long run,” Poretti said. Here we play video games for fun because of the lack of good weather, whereas in Ar- gentina they’re outside play- ing soccer all of the time. Argentina and Georgia were sunny and warm all of the time, and there were lots of things to do. Wisconsin, however, is the polar opposite, and he likes it because of that. “In Wisconsin, it was eas- ier because I already knew how to make friends and start over. I had many new friends and experiences everywhere I have been and I never regret- ted moving. I only hope that when I move to Georgia I will have fun,” said Poretti. Martin doesn’t plan on moving back to Wisconsin, at least not with his family, be- cause he doesn’t think they’ll be moving back within the next three years. However, he thinks that they will visit, seeing that they visit Georgia and Argentina every so often. ogy has sparked the interest of other teachers as well. Mr. Shadick says that he loves to talk about the weather and that other teachers at Apple- ton North have conversations with him about his interest. Some teachers have jokingly given Mr. Shadick a hard time about meteorology. He was embarrassed by the hobby at first, having been given the nickname “T-Storm” by the history teachers, but now it has become a fun joke for the staff. Mr. Shadick encourages people to do research on the imaging. Professionals like analytical chemists, oceanog- raphers, and climate scientists gather information for people like Mr. Shadick to see at no cost. The NOAA focuses on education to help restore the environment and even aims to protect environmental sanctu- aries in the United States. The hobby of meteorol-

Martin commented that, “I probably wouldn’t want to live in Argentina as I wouldn’t be at their level of reading and writing”. “I went to a school where they thought I was stupid because I didn’t read as fast as the others even though I knew Spanish and was the best in the class for math. I had a hard time adapting but I didn’t give up, making it worth it in the long run. -Martin Poretti Martin misses his friends in Atlanta and Argentina, but he just makes new ones so he doesn’t have to hold onto the past. He doesn’t really mind moving, just because he’s so used to it by now. He just has to find the right friend group wherever he ends up. Martin’s liked all of the places that he’s lived. Martin would like to move to some- where in Europe because it seems fun over there to him. His favorite memory out- side of the United States is “visiting my family which we do about every other year” in Argentina. ing to Mr. Shadick because just about anyone can form a hobby around it. He says, “You can have a passion about something and not have to be a professional for it. I’m not anywhere close to being a professional.” He believes in the importance of having hob- bies and interests because of what they can do for people. “All kids, all teachers, all adults, anybody should con- tinue to learn about things that they find interesting.” topic. “I think it’s something fun because people always care about the weather. I mean, what’s the first thing a lot of us do in the morning? What am I going to wear to- day? We check the weather to find out.” Storms in particular fascinate the public, includ- ing Mr. Shadick. “They’re fun… well, not fun when they cause damage, injury, or loss of life, but I just think they’re intriguing.” Meteorology is interest-

Mr. Shadick owns a weather detection device that allows him to track Appleton’s weather. Photo by Mr. Shadick.

ogy school for, and that is not what I do.” Mr. Shadick uses noaa. gov, the website of the Na- tional Oceanic and Atmo-

spheric Administration, to receive his reports. The web- site provides the public with basic weather services such as forecasts, radars, and satellite

H umans of n ortH

Appleton North student reflects on differing cultures By Adison Cole

Martin Poretti has moved from Argentina to Georgia to Wisconsin, and his family is returning back to Georgia next summer. Photo by Sofia Voet.

foods whereas in America we

Argentina due to bad govern- ment spending, although there is a new president who was recently elected, according to Martin Poretti. The school system is also completely different there. The curriculum did not really differ between Atlanta and Appleton, but he only expe- rienced pre-K in Argentina - which was pretty easy in his opinion. When he first moved to

“I had many new friends and experiences every- where I have been and I never regretted moving. I only hope that when I move to Georgia I will have fun. -Martin Poretti

purchase ours.

People are less educated in