Reporting live, it’s youngsters from PS 145!
Aspiring storm-chasers hit the jackpot on Thursday when star meteorologists visited a Bushwick elementary school to teach the pint-sized pupils how to analyze and report on the weather, their teacher said.
“The kids were asking a lot of questions — they’re obsessed with natural disasters” said Stephanie Liebowitz, a fourth-grade teacher at PS 145. “They absolutely loved it.”
Honchos from local television network WNBC selected the Noll Street school’s fourth graders from more than 900 applicants to participate in its “Weather Kids” program staffed by experts from the station’s Storm Team 4, including meteorologists Chris Cimino and Erica Grow.
The future forecasters even got to explore the team’s Storm Chaser van and learn all about how it operates as part of the lesson, Liebowitz said.
“Every student pretty much sat inside the truck and saw the different machines, computers, screens,” she said. “And they learned what the buttons are for.”
The student scientists took home certificates for completing the program, according to another teacher, who said her tots, some of whom are special-education pupils, dove head-first into their meteorological education.
“They handed out certificates, there were pictures, a PowerPoint presentation — it was very hands on,” said Joyce Perez. “My kids are very shy, but it was really ideal for them.”
And the visit set some tykes on a path toward their future careers — whether forecasting as meteorologists on the small screen, or monitoring weather from behind the camera, Liebowitz said.
“A few said they were really interested because they love science, but a good amount of kids loved what the cameraman was doing,” she said. “And some kids liked the whole behind-the-scenes of helping the news reporter out. You never know what they will do when they get older.”
