Even though hiding in his mother’s room during thunderstorms does not seem like the spark to a future career, it lead to a passion for geometry teacher Chad Garneau to become a weatherman.
Garneau started his career as a meteorologist six years ago for the local station KTXS 12, and has since been a teacher for four years.
“I wanted to become a weatherman since I was about 8-years-old,” Garneau said. “At that age I was petrified of thunderstorms. As I got older, I decided I wanted to get over my fear of storms and try to predict when the next one would come. Eventually, that big fear of mine turned to my biggest passion.”
When it was time to report on severe weather, Garneau said that he would be excited because it was his area of expertise.
“Working as a weatherman was great,” Garneau said. “Being a weatherman was interesting because I could predict the future with science and mathematics. Creating graphics and explaining weather to other people was such an amazing thing to me.”
Garneau gathered weather graphics from the data he collected that was presented on-air for upcoming newscasts.
“As a weatherman, it was my job to prepare the forecasts for the local community,” Garneau said. “I would review countless amounts of satellite, radar and observation data. Then once I had a good grasp on the current conditions around me, I would look at various computer models and develop my 7-day forecast accordingly.”
Garneau said working as a weatherman had its perks, but limited his personal life.
“Being a meteorologist on television felt egocentric,” Garneau said. “I wasn’t giving back to my community enough. Weather is a hobby of mine and it was fun to be recognized as a local celebrity, but I grew tired of it quickly.”
Giving back to the community was the main aspect of teaching that made Garneau want to become a teacher.
“He is such a friendly and intelligent teacher,” junior Norma Aguiluz said. “He explains a lot and goes into depth when he teaches so that everybody understands. I had no idea that he was a weatherman. I’m going to look at him differently now.”
Geometry teacher Adrena Mitchell co-teaches with Garneau during his fifth, sixth and seventh period classes, and said that Garneau’s passion is still clear.
“I do believe that he is very knowledgeable in the field of meteorology and right on par with other weathermen,” Mitchell said. “He talks about weather as if he were still a weatherman, I think deep down inside, he will always be a weatherman at heart.”