Every year the Weather Research Center honors 2-3 individuals or groups as weather heroes. Two years ago, a Coast Guard helicopter rescue crew was recoginized for their efforts during Hurricane Ike. These crew members rescued scores of individuals trapped by rising tides prior to Hurrican Ike's landfall near Galveston.
Last year, a group of science teachers from the Kinkaid School in Houston was recoginized for their efforts in promoting educational programs for their students.
This years Weather Heroes include the American Meteorological Society (AMS) for ten years of WeatherFest activity. The AMS has sponsored local weather festivals at city's around the country, exposing tens of thousands of students and their parents to a wide variety of weather related programs. Locally, KHOU-TV, the local CBS affiliate is being honored for their Weather Day at the Houston Astro's baseball games. In addition, Kenneth Graham the Meteorologist In Charge (MIC) of the Slidell, LA National Weather Service office is being honored for his efforts during the BP oil spill incident.
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I have volunteered at WRC for a great many years and at a variety of functions. I helped set up exhibits at the Museum when it first opened and have watched it grow from Day One! Watching kids go through the different exhibits and answering their questions is extremely rewarding. If the Museum can expand, more kids will have even greater opportunities to learn anout the history of weather and how if affects everything around them.
The meteorologists at the Weather Research Center are best meteorologists in the industry! The WRC meteorologists are the most positive too as they educate Houston on our exciting Gulf Coast Weather on Positively Houston News! We feel very fortunate to be affiliated with this very knowledgeable and professional team.
I love the Weather Museum. The "best kept secret" in Houston, Texas is the Nation's first and only Weather Museum. Weather Research Center does great work in educating adults, teachers, children, and the entire community abou the weather's impact on all of us. You would enjoy coming to see our Weather Museum at 5104 Caroline in the Houston Museum District.
I sm on the Board of Directors and attend the annual Golf Tournament and the Gala each year. WRC is a great non-profit group that helps educate the younger generation in science and technology. I wish we could get more participation from the offshore community as there are few groups in the offshore that help educate the younger generation in math and science.
What an opportunity to help the future growth of a Museum to be nestled in the Museum District and be an educational tool specifically for future scientists and meteorologists! It has been a great experience for me to see the support of the local meteorologists and corporate donors for this incredible Event. Many of the volunteers who helped last year are back again giving their time, money and effort to a very worthwhile cause.
As a young twenty-something Ensign in the U.S. Navy I had the priviledge of being the communications officer for the Fleet Weather Central/Joint Typhoon Warning Center, Guam. My division ensured critical meteorological and oceanographic information was delivered to the fleet commanders on a timely and accurate manner. This tour of duty opened my eyes on how atmospheric conditions has an impact on an ordinary day in ones life to the success of a military mission, a launch of a NASA rocket, the playing of a golf match to playing "in tune" for an orchestral concert. Weather is a part of life and the Weather Research Center provides the people, technology as well as the educational and historical information to help the community understand the how and why the weather acts the way it does. There are lots of "hands-on" activities to learn about the science of weather at the Weather Research Center. The professional staff is also willing to do corporate and educational outreach programs to accomodate the public it serves. For the above mentioned reasons, I highly recommend not only touring the Weather Research Center but also contributing to its physical growth in support of our community.
The Weather Research Center was a huge inspiration for our Son, age 10 to pursue a career as a meteorologist. He attended weather camp this past summer. He really enjoyed it and learned many things about hurricanes and tornados. He was sent home with papers, experiments the class did, and mementos to keep. This program is both fun and educational and set children in a positive road in life. Since the weather camp he joined the school announcement team and Science Olympia. For our family winter vacation we are schedule to visit New Orleans and take the “Katrina tour” and afterward visit Galveston to visit the 1900 storm museum. I’m proud of him!! Thank you WRC!! I would highly recommend the Weather Research Center...we will attend the summer of 2011 as well! And participate in any additional program WRC offers.
I have been involved with The John C. Freeman Weather Museum for 10 years. I believe in their mission of helping children get excited about not only meteorology but also math and science. People from all over the country send their children to their weather camps. They also help train school teachers and young meteorologists. I am a huge fan of what they are doing, because I know it makes a huge positive impact on the community and even the world.
Our daughter, age 10, our future meteorlogist, attended weather camp this past summer. She really enjoyed it and learned many things about hurricanes and tornados. She was sent home with papers, experiments the class did, and mementos to keep. We live 4 1/2 hours from the Center...so it was a trek for us...we did stay with family in Houston. I would highly recommend the Weather Research Center...we will attend the summer of 2011 as well! I liked the fact there were young women that taught the class that my daughter could "look" up to. Also they have a cool keepsake where your child stands in front of a green screen and tapes their own weather report...way cool!
The Weather Research Center provided me with valuable knowledge that will most certainly be beneficial as I attend college in pursuit of a Meteorology degree. I had the privilege to be exposed to forecasting techniques and perform some research while serving as an intern. I also was fortunate enough to expand my personal knowledge on different aspects of weather with great detail. One of the goals of this organization is to make the community weatherwise and educate as many people as possible about the weather. While serving as an intern, I saw the organization accomplish this goal in more ways than one. Weather Camp is a phenomenal opportunity for children to learn the basics of weather, and all the children I worked with thoroughly enjoyed the activities and visuals used to help convey the lesson. Museum tours are another great way to learn more how our atmosphere works. One of my favorite tasks was sharing my knowledge with the many visitors to the museum, people of all ages. I also experienced other educational outreach programs this organization provides, such as Weather Labs and other off-site activities. I have nothing bad to say about this organization and will definitely be returning as a volunteer in the future.
The WRC provided an excellect program for several youth groups I brought to the museum for a scientific learning experience. This amazing place offered so much more. The opportunity to see how a weatherman preforms on television built confidence as well provided fun. The WRC gave their undivided attention to my youth groups, patiently answering all questions. The students took notes and walked away knowing their experience provided much more knowledge than most schools can provide. This museum truly inspires our youth to want to know more.
This is a remarkable organization, one unlike any other I know in Houston. Weather Research Center is a budding nonprofit with a robust mission to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers, while helping Houstonians become better informed about weather safety. Staffed by meteorologists, WRC operates the nation’s first and only museum dedicated to weather science, education and safety. While still a relative newcomer in the Museum District, the John C. Freeman Weather Museum is nevertheless a unique contribution to Houston’s cultural landscape. It’s an inspiring place, particularly when you witness children coming from all over the city to improve their math and science skills while learning about weather.
I am always thirsting for knowledge, so I love to visit museums, especially new and interesting ones. Originally there to do research for my website WeareverTheWeather.com, I was very pleasantly surprised with my experience. The amount of information they provided in addition to the hands-on exhibits kept me at the museum for a couple of hours and also interacting with other visitors that day (a group from out of town, incidentally). One of my favorite exhibits was the Hurricane Ike information. I was abroad for a month during the time of the disaster and had only scattered reports from other travelers and news when I could get it on my hotel television to know what was happening back home. The Weather Museum exhibit gave me a thorough idea of what happened so I could better appreciate what my family and friends had to unfortunately go through. I plan to visit again and will bring my nieces and nephews to learn and enjoy!