Having the opportunity to put their best foot forward, Escalon High School students enrolled in the district’s Fire Science/EMT classes shared their knowledge with Dent Elementary first graders on Friday, May 5. It was a morning full of learning about vital signs, firefighting, knot tying and search and rescue, with high school students leading the sessions in the ‘Cougar Bay,’ the onsite firehouse/hospital/classroom area.
Junior Anthony Jones serves as this year’s treasurer for the Fire and EMT program and next year will move in to his new role as president. He was helping coordinate the student visits to the various stations on Friday morning.
“It’s really just teaching the kids the opportunities they have, showing them the career options they have in the future,” Jones explained. “I know a lot of them look up to firefighters, cops, first responders, as heroes to them so kind of teaching them some basic skills they can apply throughout their future is just really inspiring to me.”
Jones said being enrolled in the class has helped him personally, as he got involved and began to bond with his classmates and teachers in the program.
“I’ve learned a lot of life values and skills throughout the last three years being in this program,” he said.
The Dent students came through the Fire Science/EMT program tour in two groups over the course of the morning, rotating through eight different stations.
Station 1 was the Ambulance Tour with Lawson Stuart and Cody Wilson; Station 2 was CPR with Isabeli Velazquez and Madison Smith. Station 3 was Explore the EMT Bag/Oxygen Administration with Hannah Gonsalves, Sophia Martin and Serenity Rodriguez; Station 4 was Vital Signs with Makalya Wentzell and Alexandra Davis. At Station 5, Cody Parker and Colton Page were hosting the Knots demonstration; Station 6 Fire Hoses was presented by Tate Christensen, Hunter Budd and Ayden Wilson; Station 7 Search & Rescue was overseen by Julien Harrison, Blaise Murillo and Wesley Keane; and Station 8 was the Nursing Lab (hospital ward) with Grace Spurgeon, Shelby Kesler and Johanna Romero.
Outside the Cougar Bay, at the ambulance display, Lawson Stuart and Cody Wilson gave the young Dent students a tour of the EHS ambulance, pointing out where things are stored in the back and demonstrating how the gurney is used to load patients up for transport.
“I grew up in a very first responder centralized family,” Stuart said, with several relatives being in the health care/EMT field. “This day allows me to share that, to share my love and passion for this and hopefully give it to some kids.”
For Cody Parker, the sentiments were similar, as he was enjoying the opportunity to introduce younger students to the field.
“It’s just passing on knowledge to little kids; I wish I had this when I was like 5 or 6, this is pretty cool,” Parker said.
This is his third year in the program and he is part of the leadership team, serving this year as parliamentarian.
“It’s teaching me a lot of responsibility and leadership skills that I thought I was never going to possess as a student,” Parker said.
Senior Makayla Wentzell was at Station 4 for the tour, teaching students about vital signs, how to take them and what they mean.
“I love little kids; personally, little kids are my favorite so just seeing them smile and open up and look at all the nice, big cool things us big kids do is just heartwarming, honestly,” Wentzell said. “This program actually helped me decide my whole career path; I knew that I wanted to go into health care.”
Wentzell said it was the guidance, especially, of teacher Su Davis that helped her figure out the plan to get from high school to career.
“She helped me figure out what I want to do, she gave me a set plan, she helped me basically figure out my entire future,” Wentzell explained. “I want to be a nurse; I want to end up becoming a travel nurse.”
Senior Ayden Wilson was among a group at Station 6, working with students on the fire hoses. He is already looking toward the future, planning to attend MJC to get a degree in Fire Science, and was glad to introduce students to the program on Friday.
“It’s super cool, I’m grateful that this is a program we get to do and to have this experience before you go to the Fire Academy or college if you’re going to pursue this type of career,” Wilson explained. “It’s cool that we’re able to get very young kids involved in this kind of thing and it just gives them an opportunity to see if this is something they would like to do when they are older.”
Su and Seth Davis are teachers for the Fire Science/EMT curriculum.
“The thing I love most about this is that it’s full circle,” Su Davis said. “It’s me getting to see my students; this is what we call exceeding mastery, when our students, when we can kind of step back; it’s nice for us to step back and see them being the teachers for the younger kids … they’re being role models in their community which is really important so letting them show up in a professional uniform, being leaders, that’s what it’s all about.”
And while it is the Davis duo that oversee the program on Campus, Su Davis was quick to point out that, like most successful endeavors, there were many that contributed to make it work.
“We’re really proud. This is not just an effort on behalf of Mr. Davis and myself; this is many, many students, since COVID, so over the last three years, we’ve had students put their blood, sweat and tears into everything that you see here today and they know how to use everything; it’s just taking full ownership so we’re very proud of them and all their hard work.”
