{"id":58,"date":"2019-03-28T15:16:13","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T15:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/young-and-strong-fire-sciences-dual-credit-programs-explode\/"},"modified":"2019-03-28T21:00:43","modified_gmt":"2019-03-28T21:00:43","slug":"young-and-strong-fire-sciences-dual-credit-programs-explode","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/young-and-strong-fire-sciences-dual-credit-programs-explode\/","title":{"rendered":"Young and Strong: Fire Science\u2019s Dual Credit Programs Explode"},"content":{"rendered":"

NCTC\u2019s Emergency Services division, devoted to training a new generation of first responders in careers like firefighting and emergency medical services, is in the midst of a rapid expansion that directly mirrors the <\/span>incredible growth of North Texas and its host of sprawling communities. Answering the call of the area\u2019s population explosion \u2014 and the resulting need for emergency personnel \u2014 NCTC launched its first dual credit firefighter program two years ago, opening a fire academy at Lake Dallas High School in Corinth.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Next came fire academies at high schools in the Lewisville ISD, Denton ISD and Valley View ISD, and two more fire academies will come online this fall \u2014 in Little Elm ISD and Gainesville ISD. Except for Valley View\u2019s fire academy, which excludes the EMT component, all of these are two-year programs for high school juniors and seniors.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFire service is an extremely competitive field,\u201d says Strider Floyd, NCTC\u2019s Emergency Services division chair. \u201cThe training is so specialized and our surrounding<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>communities are growing so fast, it\u2019s created a real shortage and a big demand for firefighters and <\/span>emergency medical personnel. We\u2019ve really had to bump up our efforts in response.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

NCTC employs career firefighters as its dual credit instructors, and the innovative program gives students a direct pathway into fire service and the training they need to apply for jobs right out of high school. John Bryant, lead instructor at Lake Dallas High School\u2019s fire academy, also works as a driver\/engineer with the Lake Cities Fire Department, and says other instructors<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>involved with the dual credit program hail from Lake Cities<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>or the Highland Village and Sanger fire departments. Current enrollment numbers for these dual credit fire academies range from nine students in Valley View ISD\u2019s one-year program to 17 at the Lewisville location.<\/span><\/p>\n

Operating fire academies at multiple high school campuses is \u201clogistically challenging,\u201d says Floyd, but the program got a real boost with the recent purchases of two fire engines, courtesy of Carl D. Perkins grant monies and NCTC funds. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe got our first truck in February 2018, and our second<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>one came in this February,\u201d Floyd says. \u201cAnd the Perkins grant allowed us to purchase an ambulance as well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The vehicles are an important component of the hands-on skills training, allowing students real world experience with the environment and safety protocols of firefighting.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NCTC\u2019s Emergency Services division, devoted to training a new generation of first responders in careers like firefighting and emergency medical services, is in the midst of a rapid expansion that directly mirrors the incredible growth of North Texas and its host of sprawling communities. Answering the call of the area\u2019s population explosion \u2014 and the… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"article_type":[],"class_list":["post-58","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fire-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58\/revisions\/59"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=58"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}