8 / 12
Appleton North student reflects on differing cultures
By Adison Cole
H
umans of
n
ortH
“All kids, all teach-
ers, all adults, anybody
should continue to learn
about things that they
find interesting.”
-Mr. Andrew Shadick
H
umans of
n
ortH
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
foods whereas in America we
“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
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
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.
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.
Martin Poretti has moved from Argentina to Georgia
to Wisconsin, and his family is returning back to
Georgia next summer.
Photo by Sofia Voet.
Flom,
Shadick’s love of meteorology, from page 5
Mr. Shadick owns a weather detection device that
allows him to track Appleton’s weather.
Photo by Mr.
Shadick.
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-
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-
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
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-
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
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-
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.”
FEATURES
Appleton, Wisconsin Spring 2016 Vol. XXI
Issue II
Page 8