On the Road with Sailors, Storm, and Spotlights
At the Sandler Center Foundation, we are the bridge between organizations who specialize in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and the performing arts. That’s how you make STEAM. Just as our partner organizations have their expertise, ours is making sure that the message reaches children in our community who would otherwise not be given the chance.
On February 24, 2026, over 4,700 Virginia Beach Public Schools' 7th graders experienced the Xpedition Port of Call Immersive Career Expo. As they walked through the Virginia Beach Convention Center, hands-on learning from local industries unfolded in every corner of the room. Our job? Providing an opportunity to combine science and technology with the performing arts, showcasing careers in those respective fields.
Theatre is everywhere. Science is everywhere. Art is everywhere. One of our goals with Sandler On the Road is to show young, aspiring artists and engineers alike that career pathways are within their reach.
The project: A storm weather simulation.
Fleet Weather Center Norfolk discussed technology on radar and weather tracking to illustrate what they see daily. Storms don’t just show up. Many people - meteorologists and oceanographers - keep a trained eye on what’s going on and relay that oh so valuable information to our area. Coastal Virginia locals easily understand our reliance on weather forecasters to get us from one day to the next.
Next, kids saw what that weather would look like if we put it on stage. Do you think Dorothy lands in Oz without a tornado in the show?! Using equipment for lights and instruments like a thunder sheet made of cut steel for sound, musicians from Brasswind demonstrated the elements that we see and hear when a storm approaches. To reinforce the narrative, what’s a storm without “Thunderstruck” played on electric guitar?
When you enter a theater or turn on the weather channel, everything you see is someone’s job in action. Technicians run the sound booth and time the effects. Designers map out lights to illuminate the stage. Meteorologists collect and decipher data, then make predictions. Even the people behind the camera—they each work toward a final product which we then have the advantage of seeing for ourselves.
We extend an enormous thank you to meteorologists and sailors at Fleet Weather Center Norfolk, as well as Brasswind’s musicians for lending their time and talent to the dedication of children’s education.
