Van Kley Memorial Weather Station
Donation protected
My name is Jim Bever. I have the pleasure of serving as principal at Greenfield Intermediate School. Our school serves 535 students in grades 4-6 in Greenfield, Indiana. Formerly known as Greenfield Middle School, our school transitioned into an intermediate school in 2010 to better serve students in the upper elementary and lower middle school age ranges.
At the time of our transition, Duane Van Kley, husband of one of our teachers and a long time weather enthusiast, approached me to discuss our school’s interest in weather monitoring. Mr. Van Kley’s enthusiasm for weather was so great, his family often referred to his home weather monitoring equipment as “the situation room.” When Mr. Van Kley asked if we ever had considered becoming a Weatherbug (http://weather.weatherbug.com/) school, I told him we had looked into it and found that it was a proposal far outside of our limited budget. Mr. Van Kley wanted desperately for Greenfield to have its own local weather station. I was sorry to disappoint him, but our school had limited financial resources for such equipment.
Two weeks later, Mr. Van Kley approached me again, this time saying, “If someone were to provide all the equipment and cover all of the costs, would you become a Weatherbug school?” I answered, “Certainly!” He then informed me he intended to purchase, install, make fully operational, and maintain a Weatherbug station at Greenfield Intermediate School. We were overjoyed to accept his offer.
Over a period of several weeks, Mr. Van Kley, using his own personal funds purchased over $20,000 worth of state of the art weather equipment including the only HD weather camera and lightning detector between Indianapolis and the eastern state line. It should be noted, Mr. Van Kley was not a wealthy man. He was retired from a coffee delivery service at the time of his donation. With little assistance, Mr. Van Kley prepared, installed, and calibrated all of the equipment. Later in the year, the GIS Weatherbug Station became operational. Almost immediately, WTHR (a local television station) began broadcasting images from the station’s HD weather cameral, noting its ideal position and excellent view of the sky. Mr. Van Kley was ecstatic that his work was now providing our community with a state of the art eye on the sky. The excellent view of the sky helped our staff monitor sky conditions outside of our building, giving us precious extra minutes to shelter our students should threatening weather be detected. His weather station was now our community’s weather station, a way for local residents to monitor weather conditions in Greenfield as opposed to relying on equipment that measured conditions 20 miles away in Indianapolis.
Sadly, Mr. Van Kley succumbed to a catastrophic heart attack on September 18, 2011, less than a year after he set up his beloved weather station. In a formal ceremony held on November 9, 2012, our school dedicated the weather station, now the Duane Van Kley Memorial Weather Station, in his memory. The station has continued to well serve our students, our community, and Central Indiana. I have taken over the maintenance, and until recently, all has gone smoothly.
Unfortunately, late this spring during the heart of tornado season, our community lost its eye on the sky. The HD weather camera failed. Weatherbug technicians inform me that it cannot be repaired. The cost of a similar quality replacement is $7700.00, a number that singularly exceeds my entire annual budget for educational equipment.
We are seeking the assistance of kind individuals to help us reopen Greenfield’s eye to the sky by contributing toward the purchase of a new camera so we can continue Mr. Van Kley’s vision for his weather station. Your support will keep our school and community safe while helping us continue to honor Mr. Van Kley’s memory.
Please consider making a contribution of any size to our effort. Your assistance will make a difference to our students and our community.
Thank you for your consideration.
At the time of our transition, Duane Van Kley, husband of one of our teachers and a long time weather enthusiast, approached me to discuss our school’s interest in weather monitoring. Mr. Van Kley’s enthusiasm for weather was so great, his family often referred to his home weather monitoring equipment as “the situation room.” When Mr. Van Kley asked if we ever had considered becoming a Weatherbug (http://weather.weatherbug.com/) school, I told him we had looked into it and found that it was a proposal far outside of our limited budget. Mr. Van Kley wanted desperately for Greenfield to have its own local weather station. I was sorry to disappoint him, but our school had limited financial resources for such equipment.
Two weeks later, Mr. Van Kley approached me again, this time saying, “If someone were to provide all the equipment and cover all of the costs, would you become a Weatherbug school?” I answered, “Certainly!” He then informed me he intended to purchase, install, make fully operational, and maintain a Weatherbug station at Greenfield Intermediate School. We were overjoyed to accept his offer.
Over a period of several weeks, Mr. Van Kley, using his own personal funds purchased over $20,000 worth of state of the art weather equipment including the only HD weather camera and lightning detector between Indianapolis and the eastern state line. It should be noted, Mr. Van Kley was not a wealthy man. He was retired from a coffee delivery service at the time of his donation. With little assistance, Mr. Van Kley prepared, installed, and calibrated all of the equipment. Later in the year, the GIS Weatherbug Station became operational. Almost immediately, WTHR (a local television station) began broadcasting images from the station’s HD weather cameral, noting its ideal position and excellent view of the sky. Mr. Van Kley was ecstatic that his work was now providing our community with a state of the art eye on the sky. The excellent view of the sky helped our staff monitor sky conditions outside of our building, giving us precious extra minutes to shelter our students should threatening weather be detected. His weather station was now our community’s weather station, a way for local residents to monitor weather conditions in Greenfield as opposed to relying on equipment that measured conditions 20 miles away in Indianapolis.
Sadly, Mr. Van Kley succumbed to a catastrophic heart attack on September 18, 2011, less than a year after he set up his beloved weather station. In a formal ceremony held on November 9, 2012, our school dedicated the weather station, now the Duane Van Kley Memorial Weather Station, in his memory. The station has continued to well serve our students, our community, and Central Indiana. I have taken over the maintenance, and until recently, all has gone smoothly.
Unfortunately, late this spring during the heart of tornado season, our community lost its eye on the sky. The HD weather camera failed. Weatherbug technicians inform me that it cannot be repaired. The cost of a similar quality replacement is $7700.00, a number that singularly exceeds my entire annual budget for educational equipment.
We are seeking the assistance of kind individuals to help us reopen Greenfield’s eye to the sky by contributing toward the purchase of a new camera so we can continue Mr. Van Kley’s vision for his weather station. Your support will keep our school and community safe while helping us continue to honor Mr. Van Kley’s memory.
Please consider making a contribution of any size to our effort. Your assistance will make a difference to our students and our community.
Thank you for your consideration.
Organizer
Jim Bever
Organizer
Greenfield, IN
