Taylor Co. High's fire science program affords students interested in careers in fire prevention or possibly as a volunteer firefighter an opportunity at real-world training

Central Kentucky News-Journal, Campbellsville, Feb. 13, 2017

Fire science program gives students a career head-start
TCHS students prepare for careers as firefighters
By Jeff Moreland

Many young people have trouble choosing a career path. But thanks to a program at Taylor County High School, that decision has come a little easier for one group of young men, and they hope it will also help others.

Taylor County Fire Science is a program offered to any TCHS student who has interest in a potential career as a firefighter, or for those who may someday want to serve their community as a volunteer firefighter.

The program was started in 2015 by Loria Christie, exceptional child education teacher at TCHS. Her father, Jimmy Cox, served as Taylor County Fire Chief for 23 years.

Christie spent a lot of time at the firehouse, and she quickly learned of the dedication to the community by firefighters, and also the unique bond firefighters and their families have while serving others.

“When I began teaching at the high school, and students were thinking about their careers, I thought no better way to honor my father along with helping our community than to start the program,” she said.

The Kentucky Department of Education now recognizes the program as a choice for students to be career ready, according to Christie.

“We are blessed to have a fire department that allows us this opportunity and that supports our students,” she added.

Currently, four TCHS seniors are involved in the fire science program, and each say it has not only given them experience and prepared them for a career as a firefighter or volunteer, but also made a change in them as a person. The students are Dylan Viers, Will Cox, TJ Lawson and Jason Hicks.

Campbellsville Fire-Rescue Chief Chris Taylor said his department works closely with the high school, which contacted the fire department about starting the program.

“We were approached by the high school to do this program, and we wanted to get (the students) ready to be a firefighter by their senior year,” he said.

Taylor said during the first couple of years, the students learned about firefighting in a classroom setting, but since have received more hands-on training.

There are two levels of certification — 150-hour certification and 400-hour certification — required to serve as a firefighter, according to Taylor. Each of the students in the program have eclipsed the 150-hour certification, and three of them are beyond the 400-hour mark, giving them the training required to be a full-time firefighter. Those who are not 18 years old simply need to wait for their birthday to complete the process.

“There are a few classes, because some of them are not 18 yet, that they can’t do to get that certification. Once they turn 18, they can take that training,” Taylor said. “They are listed as junior firefighters now. They are limited in what they can do, but they can make runs and help with outside stuff and help with the truck, but they’re not allowed to go inside and actually fight fires or extricate somebody from a vehicle and things like that. But the last two years has built them up to go out and get some experience.”

Among the duties of the students at the station are cleaning and repairing equipment, cleaning trucks and knowing where everything is located on the trucks. Taylor said these are all duties full-time firefighters would also perform.

“We treat them just like the crew. When they come in in the mornings, we have to do truck checks, and they help with the station maintenance; stuff we have to do daily. They’re assigned to a truck, and we have a shift meeting, and they go to work. We don’t have to stay on them. They’ve done an excellent job and completed what they need to do.”

Every 24-hour shift at the fire station has a captain, and the fire science program is no different. Viers is captain of the student group, and he said the members decided that a captain was needed.

“The first part of this school year was when they named me as kind of the leader of the group. If any of the guys had any questions, they are supposed to come to me,” he said. “Most of the time I could answer the questions, but if I couldn’t, I’d go to one of the on-duty crew and ask them, ‘Hey, can you give me a little assistance here?’ and they would help me out.”

For Viers, the decision to join the fire science program was one that came easy.

“My father was a firefighter. I’ve always been interested, and when this program started, I was really excited about it,” Viers said. “I thought, ‘What a program.’ It’s something new I’d never heard of or experienced before. The whole experience to me has been a blessing. It set us up, not just me, but all of us boys, for a career in the future. I think the program has shown us all some respect and gave us the hard work and the drive that we need in life to do anything we need to do.”

Viers said he plans a career as a firefighter, and would like to work locally, but if not, he would appreciate any opportunity to work as a firefighter.

Will Cox is another student who has always had an interest in firefighting.

“When I was little, I always wanted to be a firefighter. I always used to sit outside when I’d go to my grandmother’s house because she lived by a firehouse, and I’d watch the trucks go up and down the road,” he said.

Cox learned of the program as a sophomore, and thought it could push him forward to a career.

“I signed up for the class and started coming down here. I enjoyed it and started loving it. There’s a lot of hard work you have to put into it, but in the end, it really pays off. It reflects on your personality and the people around you.”

Cox said he plans to attend college, and he would like to study to be an electrician or do HVAC work. While doing this, he could also serve as a volunteer firefighter, which he already does.

Cox, who is 18 years old, is not permitted to battle fires during the day as a student, but after school hours, Taylor said it’s a different story.

“A couple of them are 18, and during school hours, they are students, but after school hours, they can come in and make normal runs as volunteers,” Taylor said. “After school’s over, they flip that hat. They can do everything a normal volunteer firefighter can do. We couldn’t function without volunteers.”

Cox said he has had the opportunity to fight a car fire as a volunteer.

“It was fun. It was sweaty, but fun,” he said. “It’s totally different from training to actually fighting a fire. Once you really get there, your training takes over, and you just go to work,” he said.

TJ Lawson said he has learned more than just firefighting from the fire science program.

“I’ve gained a lot of respect for myself and everybody else. It really changes you as a person in a good way,” he said. “The stuff you learn here, you get in the habit of using every day. It builds you up as a person, and it has made me work harder than I used to.”

Lawson plans a career as a first responder. He said he enjoys training to be a firefighter, but thinks he may want to join the military, where he would like to work as an EMT or some position in the medical field. He is also considering being a police officer.

Jason Hicks said the program has opened his eyes to teamwork. He said he joined the program not certain of what he wanted to do, but since being in the class, he now knows he wants to be a full-time firefighter.

Hicks learned about the program from Viers, who encouraged him to sign up when he was a sophomore.

“I signed up to try it out, and I love it,” Hicks said.

Viers said the group is looking to encourage other young people to join the program when they enter high school. He said some members of the class will visit eighth-grade students and take their gear and helmets on those visits.

“We’ll tell them about how it has changed our opinions and our focus in life. We’ll tell them a little about the program itself, and we try to get new members to join,” Viers said. “We tell them to just try it for one year, and chances are, you’ll enjoy it. In our high school, there are many classes that people can take. I think this is one that not a lot of people know about, but I think this is one of the better ones you can take.”

Campbellsville Mayor Tony Young said he feels the program is exciting for students and the department. He said they seek employees who have their training, and they would like to find people from this area if possible.

“We’re excited about this. I’m just glad to have them here, and this is one of the main things you want to do in the community is to educate and prepare people for careers. I think it’s working out great,” Young said.

The program has had a positive impact on its first group of students, and all four say they have benefited from being a part of it. Taylor said he and his department will take feedback from the students and look at some things they may be able to do even better in the future.

Any TCHS student can enroll in the program, but the requirements are not easy. Viers said a 3.5 grade-point average is required, and Taylor said there is also work just like a normal class. Students take tests on the work they do at the station, and those tests are graded and applied to their school grades.

Taylor said the program is operated by all of the firefighters at the station, and they work as instructors, teaching classes to the students.

“All of the career guys have played a part in getting these guys the training they have today,” he said.