My Pawsome Visit To The Browning School in NYC!

Written By: Schmitty The Weather Dog | January 06, 2015

Before the holidays I brought my STEM enrichment program to The Browning School. Talk about a cool school! It’s an all boys school in a pawsome building on the upper east side of NYC.

Bringing my Schmitty The Weather Dog Weather/Science Assembly inside the Red Doors!

The famous Red Doors welcome me and my Schmitty The Weather Dog Weather/Science Assembly to The Browning School. I’m so excited!

Science teacher Emilie Wolf & Lower School Top Dog Laurie Gruhn help Author Elly & moi get ready for my assembly. Arf-Arf!

Science teacher Emilie Wolf & Lower School Top Dog Laurie Gruhn help Author Elly & moi get ready for my assembly.  Nice humans!

Waiting in the Green Room aka the boy's locker room.  Arf-Arf!

Waiting in the Green Room aka the boy’s locker room. Arf-Arf!

Author Elly reads my Schmitty The Weather Dog book to the Browning boys & teachers.

Author Elly reads my Schmitty The Weather Dog book to the Browning boys & teachers.

Next up? Our fun weather/science lesson with Meteorologist Ron & moi!

The Browning Students were so bright I had to wear my sunglasses! Arf-Arf!

The Browning students sing along to the STWD Weather Song.  American Idol eat your heart out!

The Browning students sing along to the STWD Weather Song. American Idol eat your heart out!

As they leave the assembly, every student gets a sniff from me.  I love my job! Arf-Arf!

As they leave the assembly, every student gets a sniff from me. I love my job! Arf-Arf!

Paw-to-graphing a book for The Browning School library.

Paw-to-graphing a book for The Browning School library with Top Dog Laurie Gruhn.

My tail wags every time I think about my visit to The Browning School. Here’s what Lower School Top Dog, Laurie Gruhn, had to say about Team Schmitty The Weather Dog’s visit:

What  a fantastic morning! Thank you so much for coming to our school and sharing this story as well as Schmitty with us! The boys were signing the song all day long, and  everyone has asked to borrow the book!  Last  but not least, you have created several budding meteorologists, as the students now  have a much greater appreciation and understanding of weather!  What an ideal Assembly program-  literature, science  and humanities all rolled into one. This was a real treat, and we are so grateful for your visit!

Here’s a link to The Browning School website where they posted a blog about our assembly too. Bow-Wow!

And the icing on my bacon cake (!) was getting an email the next day from The Browning School first grade teacher, Julianne Rowlands, with questions from her students. Here are my answers to the questions the students asked:

Question # 1: How old are you?

I’m three years old. But I’m told that us dogs grow up much faster then humans. They say the formula is to take a dog’s age and multiply it by 7 and that’s how old a dog is. I don’t buy it though. I’m just a kid like you guys and love to play ball . . . and pawcast the weather, of course! Arf-Arf!

So, if I’m 3 years old, how old would I be in dog years?

Question # 2: How fast are you?

Wow! Great question. I have to be really fast because when Meteorologist Ron takes just one step, I have to take at least 4 steps to keep up with him. Of course, when I see a squirrel I can run really, really fast. Arf-Arf!

So, if Meteorologist Ron takes 80 steps in one minute, how many steps do I have to take to keep up with him?

Question #3: Will there be a snow storm on Christmas?

Hmmmm – that’s a interesting question. Since I’m a dog, I rely on my senses of sight, smell and hearing to pawcast the weather. So, predicting the weather that is 41 days away is kinda “ruff” for me. That why I rely on Meteorologist Ron for long term pawcasting. He studies charts, and graphs, and weather models that give probabilities. That’s a fancy word that means how likely something is going to happen. So, that’s why Meteorologist Ron and I are such a pawsome weather team. Together we combine our skills to do a really good job of predicting the weather! But to answer your question, “Will it snow on Christmas?” . . . Meteorologist Ron says there is a 20% chance of precipitation on Christmas. I say Arf-Arf!

Question #4: Do you get nervous on stage?

Yikes! I have to think about that. I’ve have visited lots and lots of schools in lots of different places to do my Schmitty The Weather Dog Weather Science Assembly for students and teachers. I normally never get nervous during one of my performances. I love visiting schools and meeting new students. But I can remember once when I was making my entrance with Meteorologist Ron at the Monsignor Clark School in Wickford, Rhode Island. I got really nervous. Author Elly, always comes over and gives me a treat when I make my appearance. But Meteorologist Ron and I entered from the back of the gym and I couldn’t find Author Elly. So I started panting. (Panting is how us dogs either cool ourselves down when we are hot or show that we are nervous). And even after I saw Author Elly, I just couldn’t stop panting. It didn’t stop me from helping teach the students to learn about weather and science. But I just couldn’t shake it off until afterwards when I went outside to stretch my legs and get some exercise. Even a short walk always calms me down. Sometime with us dogs, a new smell or loud noise can make us nervous. I have to admit, I was a even a little bit nervous at Browning School yesterday. Maybe that’s because I’ve never been to an all boys school before! Arf-Arf!

Do you ever get nervous when you have to stand up in front of your classmates to speak/bark?

Question #5: Do you have any brothers or sisters?

When a mommy dog gives birth, she gives birth to a litter of pups. A litter means more than one pup. So every dog usually has siblings. That a fancy name for brothers and/or sisters. When I was born, I stayed with my Yorkie Mom and my litter mates until I was old enough for humans to adopt me and bring me to their home. BTW – I love my new home! My 2-legged humans just adopted a new Yorkie puppy. Her name is Pudge. Like all siblings, she keeps me company and she is lots of fun to play with, but she can also be a real pest too. She is a bit bigger than me and sometimes she takes my toys and eats my treats. Boy, does that make me mad. Arf-Arf!

Do you have any siblings? And what’s your secret to getting along?

Bow-Wow! I had so much fun visiting The Browning School and answering your follow up questions too! Now I’m exhausted. I gotta go nap!

Arf-Arf,
Schmitty The Weather Dog


  • Schmitty's New Weather Book

  • Schmitty's New Weather Book
    Schmitty's New Weather Book

  • Schmitty the Weather Dog on YouTube

  • Schmitty's New Weather Book
    Recycling Sing Along

  • The New Yorkie Store

  • Sun

  • Wind