Merced Union High School District

Dressed in their fireman turnout gear, Jose Flores’ CTE Fire Science students were outside working on different skills during a cold December morning at Livingston High School. A group of students were working on dragging a hose from a fire engine. Another group was working with tools attempting to pry open a door on the forcible entry door system. A third group was busy practicing strapping into their oxygen tanks.

 

Students were engaged with their hands-on training and some students elected to stay later after class to continue working during lunch. There are over 140 students enrolled in the Public Safety Pathway at Livingston High, which is led by Flores, a seasoned first responder who has worked over 24 years as a fireman in different capacities for the Merced County Fire Department. Flores’ program was bolstered this year with the addition of a fire engine truck and an ambulance, which the school purchased with the help of grant funds.

 

The new equipment has Flores’ working on a new curriculum for his classes. “Eventually the kids will learn how to put the air tanks on while they're in the fire truck,” Flores said. “We work on grabbing hoses, dragging hoses, and we will actually have charged water lines as if there was a house fire. They can mimic a lot of those real situations using the fire equipment.”

Senior Stephanie Huerta took the Intro to Public Service and Community Medical Response classes. She became interested in the Fire Science course when the school was able to obtain the fire engine and ambulance. “It got interesting last year when we were able to buy a fire truck and we were able to get more equipment that could help us,” Huerta said. “I think that's what sparked my interest and I was very intrigued with all the hands-on things that we could do.”

 

The Public Safety pathway starts with an Intro to Public Service where students learn about what firefighters, police officers and emergency medical technicians do. Students will become certified in CPR and first aid. In the Community Medical Response course students are given advanced public service and first aid training. They learn about emergency tactics and strategies. When they get to the Fire Science course, students learn about fire behavior, fire service tactics and strategies, fire prevention, vehicle extraction and other skills. 

 

Students who complete the pathway will have a jumpstart on certificates and college credits if they decide to continue with the Fire Fighter Academy at Merced College or another avenue into a public safety career. “I try to get them all the initial requirements they would need for a public service job, which is like your ICS (Incident Command System), which is an introduction to the command system,” Flores said. “I try to get them all the certificates, so that when the kids actually try to apply for entry level positions, they meet all the prerequisites to apply as soon as they graduate.”

“Both semesters of my Fire Science course are dual-enrollment classes with Merced College, including FIRE-30: Fire Protection Organization and FIRE-31: Fire Behavior and Combustion,” Flores said. “FIRE-30 is the minimum requirement for most fire courses at Merced College, including the fire academy. This allows students to take any available fire courses at Merced College, enabling them to complete any of their three additional program core courses for their degree quickly after leaving high school.” 

 

Flores graduated from Livingston High in 1999 and is thrilled to be teaching back at his alma mater. He’s been leading the Public Safety pathway the past four years and has already had students pursue careers with area fire departments. The tools and equipment the school has allows him to teach the students in the classroom and then they can come outside and do it for themselves in simulated situations. “Most of the lectures that we are doing in class, now we get to actually come to the fire truck and learn about it, which is better than just staying in a classroom,” said junior Dominic Carrillo.

 

Carrillo and senior Brandon Delgado are two students in the Fire Science course and both say they are interested in pursuing a career as a firefighter and it’s great to have an instructor like Flores with his experience teaching them. “This is the best experience we can get, especially if you’re going into the career,” Carrillo said. Delgado spent the morning climbing on top of the fire engine to help unload and load hoses. “This helps you know what to expect if you’re going into the career,” he said. “This is great because not all schools have this and having this opportunity is a great experience. It’s also fun.”

 

Flores says if a program like this was available to him when he was in high school it would have  helped him advance further in his career. “I’m appreciative that we can build a program here because throughout the state these public service programs are growing,” Flores said. “I’m glad that our district is very supportive.”

Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be contacted at Sjansen@muhsd.org.