SANFORD, Fla. – Down winding hallways filled with children heading to their classrooms, News 6 meteorologist Samara Cokinos headed toward a room full of eager students ready to learn.
She walked through the door to find 58 smiling and curious little faces looking up at her. The weeklong anticipation was over and it was time to talk all about severe weather to a group of young minds.
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With graphics displayed on the screen behind her, she began talking about all the crazy weather that happens in Florida.
Immediately, hands went up in the air from all sides of the room. The room was loud with excitement for science. This is something Cokinos says she remembered feeling once when she was their age.
Teachers had to quiet their excitement with a cool chant "yo yo" and the children replied "Galileo" and calmed down.
To her surprise, the group of 7-8-year-olds knew a lot about lightning, thunderstorms, tornadoes, hail and hurricanes. They shared stories about their weather experiences and even talked about other sciences including volcanology and geology.
The questions were over and the bell rang. Nearly an hour had flown by.
The kids turned and said loudly, "Thank you Ms. Cokinos." Some dashed to their next special subject and others hugged Cokinos' waist before heading to the playground.
As she left the school, she had one more thing to do: take pictures to reveal the answer to the poll in Monday's STEM article.
News 6 reporter Mark Lehman was there to help out and even take a minute to join in a school selfie.
So, what school did you vote for? If it was Galileo School of Gifted Learning, you chose correctly.
Be sure to be on the lookout for future stories that may have a poll to to find out what school Cokinos will head to next. You never know where she will end up.