Local Westchester resident Lee Goldberg paid a visit to the sixth graders of Mildred E. Strang Middle School on Monday to share his personal success story to becoming a television weatherman. As he shared with the students, Goldbergs path to standing in front of the green screen in New York City began as a child who liked math and science and eventually lead him to a gig as Eyewitness News Accu-Weather meteorologist for ABC Channel 7 News.
I really did start loving weather when I was your age, he said to the students. Maybe youre not sure if something youre doing now that you love could turn into a job, but it can, and it did for me.
Goldberg, who currently lives in Westchester, was age 13, in Canton, Mass. when he first started the news on television, explaining to the students that its never too early for them to pursue something theyre interested in.
[I thought] maybe this is something more than a hobby, maybe I could turn this into a career, maybe I could do the weather on TV, he said.
To the delight of the students, Goldberg gave an extensive tour of his studio through photos. He showed them the different rooms, including the make-up room, the sets, and the green screen -- where he does his weather forecasts. He also showed them what the studio looked like from the angle of an anchor reading the teleprompter.
Goldberg showed the students the different maps and visuals he uses to predict what weather is coming, and also showed visuals and videos about current hurricanes and tornadoes, which sparked plenty of questions from the students.
To you, it looks like just a few lines, but to me this means a storm, or something else, he said. Goldberg explained all the possible scenarios and clues he could gain from the one visual, including barometric pressure and humidity. He rattled off the different weather indicators that he could read from the storm, vocabulary these students were familiar with as they study the weather unit in classes.
What temperature is it outside? asked one student. 68 degrees, replied the weatherman immediately, You cant trick me.
Students in the audience said they had been learning about similar meteorology terms in class, but picked up some new weather information during the presentation.
I liked the fact that a tornado can come on land or water and still move around, said Elizabeth Scinto.
Her schoolmate, Griffin Plitnick, who said hes a little bit interested in learning more about weather, agreed that he had just learned this same fact from Goldbergs presentation.
After the presentation, and after he took a photo of the students to give them a shout out on his newscast, Goldberg said he thinks the students visit was great because he was the exact same age when he first realized he had a passion for meteorology.
This is when I first found out I was really into weather and what I really want to let the kids know is my experiences all started at this age, and they can do it now too, he said.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Yorktown and receive free news updates.