Amelia (Segal) Draper, a Meteorologist with NBC4 Washington and a Frederick native, will be the featured speaker at the FCC Moving Mountains speaker series on Tuesday, March 21, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.

During her talk, Draper will share her experiences in meteorology and talk about the importance of internships or job shadow visits. She will also encourage students to have a vision for their future and work hard to achieve it.

“It can be very beneficial for students in this age group to reach out to someone in a career they’re interested in and ask to shadow them even just for a day,” Draper said. “They can see if that career may actually be right for them, and also start to build contacts. No matter what career students want to go into, they should never let anyone talk them out of it. If they work hard, they can achieve what they want to achieve.” 

Draper, a 2004 Middletown High School graduate, joined the News4 team in March 2013. Her forecasts are featured on the weekend editions of News4 at 6 and News4 at 11 as well as various times during the week, on NBCWashington.com and on 103.5 WTOP Radio.

Forecasting the weather in Washington, D.C. was Draper’s goal when she started studying meteorology at Penn State University. Draper graduated from college early so she could start working and nabbed her first job with CNET in State College, Pa. Her next job took her to WJET/WFXP in Erie, Pa. From there, she joined the morning team at WIVB-WNLO in Buffalo before coming to NBC4.

Draper returns to Frederick often to visit her family and her husband’s family and credits Middletown High School for helping set her up on her path to success.

“What’s so great about Frederick is it’s a place that has a lot of opportunity, but where you still know your neighbors,” Draper said. “I had nothing but opportunity as a student there with teachers who provided so many resources.”

The sessions are free and open to the public and will take place in the JBK Theater, located inside the Visual & Performing Arts Center on campus.

The monthly series features inspiring professionals who share their life experiences and encourage teens and young adults to set the bar high in all areas of their lives.

In addition to Draper, upcoming Moving Mountain speakers include:

• April 12 - Mia Russell, financial expert and Vice President of Hands on Banking at Wells Fargo.
• May 17 - Maurice Arenas, studio musician, performer, and TrueFire artist.

For more information about the series, contact Mike Pritchard at 301.846.2417.