Senior John Bordash was faced with a tough decision. He could chase his life-long dream of becoming a teacher or pursue his passion for all things weather.

The middle level education major and founder, owner and lead forecaster for JB Weather decided there was a place for both in his life.

“Getting a degree in meteorology would only lead me to get a job doing what I was doing. With that in mind, I decided to transfer to Shippensburg to get a degree in education, live out my passion for teaching, and run my weather outlet to fulfill my love for the weather,” explained Bordash.

Bordash knew at a very young age he wanted to become a teacher. He spent much of his childhood playing “school” and even set up his bedroom as a classroom.

His interest in weather developed in high school. Events like Hurricane Katrina had him glued to the television watching The Weather Channel.

“I remember drawing huge maps of the United States and tracking storms on them along with the TV weather people,” he said.

At the age of 17, this led him to producing his own weather forecasts on his personal Facebook page.

“My hometown is pretty rural, and has almost no local news coverage. I believe that because of that lack of coverage, people began turning to my developing Facebook page for weather updates,” he said.

He eventually added Twitter, Instagram and Youtube to his forecasting mix and launched jbweather.net. He officially turned the longtime hobby into an actual business in 2020, investing stimulus money he received during the pandemic into JB Weather. Coupled with the support of several companies, JB Weather is now his sole source of income.

But balancing a business and a full-time course load is no easy task. He is thankful for the support of faculty and staff at Ship. Many are aware of his business, and are supportive when high-impact weather events require his attention.

“Their support and willingness to work with me have allowed me to continue to grow my business and continue to grow educationally,” he added.

He’s excited to graduate and become the teacher he has always hoped to be and of course there will be great weather lessons in his classroom.

“Having dual interests in social studies and the weather offers a unique way to integrate cross-curricular learning for my students. The weather impacts so many different parts of everyday life that it is nearly impossible to ignore its role throughout history,” he said.

As he prepares for graduation and what’s next, one thing is certain, the forecast looks bright for John Bordash.