Grant will bring advanced weather station to Charleroi

Teacher Eric Selva hopes it will spark curiosity that may expand students’ career options.

Soon, students at Charleroi Area School District won’t just be checking the weather. They’ll be forecasting it.

The district has been awarded a $5,000 Innovation Grant through Intermediate Unit 1 to launch “Cloudy with a Chance of STEM,” a project that will transform a standard school weather station into a hands-on data lab for students across grade levels.

In a Dec. 15 award letter, IU1 informed science teacher Eric Selva that his grant request was approved.

Backed by the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation and the EQT Foundation, the grant will fund new technology and forecasting tools at Charleroi Area High School, where Selva teaches environmental science, Earth and space, botany/zoology and forensics.

For Selva, the project started with a simple goal: give students real experience with real tools.

“A big part of my push this year for various grants was to give the students an opportunity to get hands-on with various different types of technologies but also to give them a chance to experience different career paths,” he said.

Data points to daily forecasts

The upgrade will include a professional-grade ultrasonic weather station, air quality monitors, soil moisture sensors, a lightning detector, radar visualization software and a live weather camera. Students will be able to track everything from wind speed and pressure changes to particulate matter and carbon dioxide levels.

Selva hopes the equipment will spark interest in a student-led forecasting group. “I am hoping to find some interest in a type of ‘meteorology’ club that students can make daily forecasts,” he said.

But the vision reaches beyond a club meeting.

In environmental science and Earth science classes, students will analyze air quality swings in the Mon Valley, compare changing weather patterns and explore cause-and-effect relationships. Using soil moisture and temperature sensors, they’ll determine ideal crop planting and harvesting times for the region’s climate zone.

“My goal is for students to use data to drive decisions and think critically about the weather and how it changes what we do,” Selva said.

Students may even learn how to submit local weather observations through the National Weather Service’s CoCoRaHS reporting system and publish their own forecasts on a planned school webpage.

“There’s really no limit to what students can take part in the program,” Selva said. “The tools themselves will be shared with everyone in the district.”

He estimates 10 to 20 students may participate directly in meteorology-focused activities during activity periods, homeroom sessions or lunchtime meetings, though he hopes even more will engage with the data in classrooms districtwide between December 2025 and June 2026.

Preparing for an uncertain future

Selva said the grant reflects a larger effort to prepare students for careers that may not even exist yet.

“It’s already tough being a 17- or 18-year-old and trying to make a career decision, so why not give them as many opportunities to try different things as possible,” he said.

He believes working with real-time technology builds more than technical skills. It builds confidence.

“To be honest, we have no idea what students will be walking into in just five, 10, especially 20 years from now,” Selva said. “I mean just look at what AI has done in just two.”

By giving students experience analyzing live data and presenting their findings, he hopes to give them an advantage in a rapidly changing economy.

“My sincere hope is it will help to give them an edge in a future economy and workplace that we know is going to continue changing,” he said.

Opportunity close to home

For Selva, the project also carries local meaning.

“I can’t help but think about all the stories I’ve heard from people who grew up in the Mon Valley and how much of a bustling area this was,” he said. “I want to continue to bring these opportunities to our students at CAHS and hope that they can reignite the engine of innovation and economic opportunity that once was present in the Mon Valley.”

The district will display the project at the Innovation Grant Showcase in October 2026, where Selva expects students to present their forecasts and explain how they’ve used data to guide projects and decisions.

“If I’m being honest here, I hope our students surprise me by what they show,” he said. “There’s a part of me that has always tried to take a step back and let the students shape a project around their vision, and I am always pleasantly surprised by what their unique backgrounds and experiences bring to each project.”

For Selva, the weather station is more than new equipment mounted outside the building. It’s a tool for possibility.

“It’s not so much about the tech itself but what the students decide to do with it,” he said. “Maybe on the surface level a student or two decides to be a meteorologist. Maybe some student or two decides they like taking data and putting that into a webpage and decide to be a graphic designer or coding programs.

“And maybe, someone says they have no desire whatsoever to do any of this. That’s great, too. That means they had the opportunity to decide.”