The storm facing Brough is now a personal one

"When we did the paper-clip project, a huge semi drove up to the school with pallets containing 2 million paper clips. The students had ordered them without telling us."

Brough started teaching at Springville Junior High School in 1975. Three years later, he took a position as director of research at Mark Eubank's WeatherBank Inc. because he loves weather. At the time, Eubank worked for KUTV-Ch. 2 (he is now at KSL), and Brough had no idea it would lead to his appearing in front of a Ch. 2 camera as well.

But Brough seriously missed his students, and Ethel says she could see "the light going out in his eyes." So in 1980, he decided to return to teaching — but the same time, Ch. 4 offered him its main weather position. He accepted, but his longing for the classroom remained.

In 1984, Brough began commuting to Springville to teach while continuing on TV. In 1986, he negotiated with Ch. 4 to trade spots with Rebecca Reheis, who was doing weekend weather at the time. This allowed him to be primarily a teacher and secondarily a weather forecaster.

In 1986, Brough landed a teaching position at Eisenhower Junior High and has been happy there ever since. He's even added to his load by teaching geography to adults at BYU's Salt Lake Center and dabbling in family history research. (He has also written scientific articles and LDS doctrinal books.)

And, of course, he continues to do weekend weather forecasts at Ch. 4. "When you're standing in front of a camera," Brough said, "it's a one-way conversation. You're spouting off information. You're looking at a lens, but you get no feedback until you get off the set — and then someone makes a phone call or sends an e-mail. The response is both delayed and minimal. You don't know if you're getting your point across.

"But with teaching, it's just the opposite. When you appear in front of human beings, the response you get is immediate, especially with young people. You know very quickly if you are reaching them. These are kids with high energy, and you can direct it. I like to make a difference — even if it is just with one person."

Brough feels grateful to Ch. 4 executives, who recently renewed his TV contract early — for four more years — because they "wanted the contract to be a non-stresser."

He recently shaved his head to better cope with chemotherapy, but his bosses assured him they didn't care if he has hair.

Ethel, who suffers from fibromyalgia and chronic-fatigue syndrome, has been unusually strong in recent weeks as she cheers on her husband. And Brough's four children and seven grandchildren are happy that they get to spend more time with this "Type A personality."

One thing Ethel says she is skeptical about, however, is the doctors' prediction that his treatment will bring irritability: "He has such a good sense of humor. He keeps us all going. He's a delight to all of us."

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E-mail: dennis@desnews.com