Fire academy students recognized for hard work at Lindale ISD

Published 5:40 am Wednesday, December 11, 2024

LINDALE — For some students at Lindale High School, firefighting isn’t just a goal for the future — it’s part of their high school experience.

“I like the challenge and just the physical aspect of being a firefighter,” senior Kayden Harper said. “I like working out and I just like exertion, and I just thought that being a firefighter would be the best way to do that and keep up being in good shape and just having fun doing it.”

Lindale ISD, Lindale Fire Department, and Tyler Junior College have joined together in a cooperative effort to design and implement a dual credit firefighter certification program within Lindale ISD. The result of this collaboration is a two-year program that will enable participants to earn a total of 24 hours of college credit and the Texas Commission on Fire Protection basic firefighter certification.

“This partnership is a great way to help the City of Lindale, Lindale ISD and these students to have a solid career right out of high school from which they can go and work in the field,” said Jeanie Oxler, Director of School Partnerships at TJC. “They can come back to TJC and continue their education and grow into a bachelor’s of emergency management or become a fire inspector or do numerous things.”

TJC also has a fire academy with Tyler ISD. Through these partnerships, TJC instructors come to the schools’ campuses to teach through the academies.

In Lindale, in addition to classes being conducted at the high school, the program includes field trips to the Lindale Fire Department fire training facility where students complete required skills training exercises.

“It’s very physical, they have to wear protective clothing and air protection that weighs about 75 pounds in itself,” said Jeff Akin, program coordinator for the Fire Protection Technology Program at TJC. “They’re having to wear all of this equipment and perform, so it’s very physically demanding. Then there’s also the academic side of it learning the proper procedures and ways of doing things to put fires out.”

There is no cost to the student while participating in the Lindale High School fire program.

“It’s been amazing because … working with the firefighters, they have way more experience, they know the right way to do it, when to do it and how to do it,” Harper said. “Being able to work with fellow high schoolers … and learn alongside them has been an amazing process as well.”

There are currently 15 students in the program at Lindale, including three seniors and 12 juniors. Three former seniors, who graduated from LHS as part of the Class of 2024, graduated from fire academy Tuesday after completing their EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) training over the summer.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Wyatt Parker, a recent fire academy graduate. “It was hard work, but with that hard work came a lot of good. It was really worth it.”

Parker and his two academy classmates were part of the inaugural fire academy cohort, which started last fall.

“It was very eye-opening,” Parker said. “It gave a lot of insight as to what my future would look like and what I would be doing and it made sure I really wanted it before I just jumped off into it.”

For their efforts, the Lindale students were recognized at the Lindale ISD Board of Trustees meeting Monday evening.

Fire training programs are a rigorous and arduous process requiring more than 500 hours of instruction and hands-on practice. For high school students in the fire program, the program operates on a dual-credit course, with training spread throughout over two years, as Fire 1 and Fire 2. This gives the students the opportunity to earn 24 hours of college credit towards an associates degree in fire protection technology.

“The program is a good way to introduce students to public safety in general like firefighting, EMS, police … criminal justice, emergency management,” Akin said. “There’s a lot of fields in the public safety realm that are discussed in the class… it gives them the opportunity to see where else they might want to be employed.”

For students considering a career in public safety, the fire academy program offers a crucial first step toward meeting state requirements and entering the workforce.

“There are opportunities within cities in the surrounding two hours of our community that are hiring employees with starting pay of approximately $80,000,” said TJC Assistant Instructor Aaron Smith. “There are also additional benefits including shift, overtime, certification pay, and health and retirement support.”

These recent graduates have already been hired with the Tyler Fire Department.

According to Teri Hodges, CTE Director for Lindale ISD, there is a growing interest in the fire academy program at Lindale High School.

“I think 12 to 15 is an appropriate amount of kids to get with the hands-on skills that are necessary,” she said. “I do anticipate that next year we will have a full class of Fire 1 and Fire 2. If we can graduate around 10 (firefighters) a year for a school our size, I say that’s a huge success.”

The fire academy is one of many initiatives offered at Lindale ISD as a way to prepare students for more real world experiences.

“One of our state requirements and our goals is to expand our community based partnerships that’s actually giving our kids partnering with local businesses to give our kids real world work based learning opportunities,” Hodges said. “So getting our kids exposed and connected to our community members for all of our different programs of study is important.”

Hodges described a new and upcoming partnership with Mink Plumbling as a way to benefit students in both construction and the audio-video programs at Lindale High.

“(Mink Plumbling) expressed a need for needing some audio video, some small commercials to be made,” she said. “We have a strong audio video program and I’m like, ‘Hey, if you would donate your expertise and time to help skill and prepare our kids, whether it’s teaching a unit or letting them job shadow on a construction site briefly, then maybe in exchange, we could do some audio-video.”

The collaboration provided a real world experience for students in both fields and also the opportunity to enhance their skills and portfolios.

“So, we’re really looking for not just sponsorships but ways that we can partner and benefit our local communities,” Hodges said. “(It) also gives our kids some insight and some real world experience as well… so they can see what it looks like outside of the textbook.”

Many of those who look into firefighting as a career goal see it as a way to not only give back to the community but make a positive impact. They want to save lives and protect property from fires.

“I think if you have a servant’s heart, to where you want to help people, this is a great career,” Akin said. “I was a firefighter in Tyler for 25 years. We get paid to help people and it’s rewarding in itself just to help people.”

Parker said the career field is for people who have a passion and want to fulfill that.

“I would say it’s not for everybody,” Parker said. “But if you think it’s something for you, I would definitely recommend trying it because it is a very rewarding career.”