Davis Powell is an exceptional student with big ambitions and aspirations. Although he is only a junior in high school, he has already made massive contributions to his school. As an aspiring meteorologist, it is no surprise that he wanted to help grow the school’s weather program. Already acting as the school’s meteorologist every week, he never makes delivering the weather dull, and his love, fascination, and passion for weather can be seen through him. He is certainly not an underachiever; for a final project in his SELECT class, he managed to obtain a grant of $500 and bought with it a weather station, weather console/transmitter, and a subscription to both WeatherLink and F5 Weather.  

“I was initially just ordering a weather station for the school as well as some extra subscriptions to help out Madisonian Weather forecasting, which all totaled up to be about $500,” said Powell. “After some interviewing, I came out to about 300 students with the weather station, the entire school with Madisonian Weather, and all of Madison thanks to the weather station. MEF really liked that, so instead of giving me $500, they gave me the maximum amount possible: $1000.”

What exactly will this mean for the school? Well, for starters, Mr. Ferry’s classes, Earth & Space Science and Environmental Science, will have a lot more possibilities to add to their classes soon. Powell stated that it “will give Mr. Ferry the ability to give students more hands-on ability with their learning, teaching them about the weather and giving them the ability to predict it themselves.”

There is a lot more than the educational value that goes into this for Davis, though, as he hopes to inspire his fellow students and peers to grow a greater interest and curiosity towards the weather.

“I hope to possibly create some sort of fascination with weather, to whatever degree. Whether that be they learn at least one thing from that class, one thing from me, or they develop a love for weather that rivals even mine; I think that’s one of the goals I have in mind. Who knows, maybe I’ve just inspired the next Josh Wurman.” 

Davis Powell has always been interested in the weather since he was younger.

“As long as I can remember, I’ve always loved the weather. I remember, every time a storm would come through, I’d watch in wonder out the screen door, listening to the thunder roll and watch the lightning spiderweb its way through the clouds above me. During the tornado outbreak of March 2012, I remember standing outside watching the clouds slowly turn green. I didn’t care that the sirens were blaring all around me. I didn’t care that I was soaked from head to toe. I didn’t care that I could be killed by the tornado somewhere out there. None of that mattered to me. Just the storm, its power, and its beauty.”

Powell’s love for weather makes it no surprise that becoming a meteorologist has been his longest dream, and few are as suited for the job as he is. 

Despite his love for all things weather it is not the only career that has piqued this ambitious student’s interests.

“I don’t know whether or not I want to do meteorology or marketing,” mused Powell. “On one hand, meteorology I have a passion for. I love the beauty; I love the unpredictable nature. But I don’t care for the science aspect of it. On the other hand, I love socializing, persuading, and meeting new people more so than I do meteorology. I’ve come so far, though, per a resumé, in the meteorological field, I’d hate to throw it all away. Either way, I have to have a job that has something new every so often. I hate repetition, and I hate bromidic workplaces.” 

If there is one thing for certain about Davis Powell, his aspirations are high, and he will undoubtedly be extremely successful in the career of his choice. Not only does he have high ambitions for himself, but he always has high ambitions for his community. \

“I’d love to become mayor of Madison, though no doubt that’s too ambitious. Building on that, I think a life of politics would be good for me. I see a lot of problems, and I think I have a lot of solutions,” Powell said.

Powell hopes to restore his hometown by creating more possibilities for tourism.

“I’d go about increasing Madison’s tourism by getting a steam locomotive tourist route here.  I could pair with so many businesses since we’re built on tourism. I could expand to include others, such as the riverboat Belle of Louisville. I could run the steam locomotive from Madison to Columbus. If I can drastically improve Madison, then my name would be known around town. From there, campaign, hopefully, and get elected. I want to be able to change a lot of societal issues for the better, but I don’t know where to go about (becoming) the mayor and how to get my voice heard.”

With dreams of becoming either a meteorologist, marketer, or mayor, Davis Powell never lacks ambition, and while achieving these dreams requires hard work and dedication, Powell is never short on either. A big inspiration for him is his father.

“Aside from the fact we share the same name, I admire both his morality and morale, despite everything he’s been through. He has constantly challenged the status quo, and he’s always managed a way to succeed despite all odds. If I could become even a fraction of who he is, I think I’d be a very happy man,”  Powell said.

It will be no surprise if we one day see Powell on a news channel or in the mayor’s office. Serving as an inspiration to his peers and a model student to his teachers, Davis Powell will continue living out his dreams successfully and helping grow his career and community.