Wellington High School’s Fire Science Academy Prepares Students For The Fire Servic

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Alexus Brown realized when she was 3 years old that she liked fire, water and helping people.

Her mother added those components together and told her that she should be a firefighter -- an idea that has stuck.

Now, as a junior at Wellington High School, Brown is on her way to making that childhood dream a reality. She is one of almost 100 students in the school's Fire Science Academy, a comprehensive program that prepares students for the real world, putting them months ahead of the competition.

The academy is the only one of its kind in Palm Beach County and gives students skills that they can use to get an initial firefighter certification.

Brown and her peers love it. It gives them hands-on training, and it's a class she looks forward to every day.

"It makes me feel like I have another family because everyone treats each other like brothers and sisters," she said.

When programs coordinator Jim Marshall started the program in 2013, he had two goals: Give the students a leg up in the industry and teach them about civic duty.

The regimented, structured program, with "yes, sir" ...
... as the norm, still has room to grow. The choice program is accepting up to 50 people each year and can handle about 200 students overall.

But the key to the success has been outside donations from other towns and organizations. Marshall said the program has received about $100,000 worth of equipment from fire departments including Palm Beach County, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton and Palm Beach.

Recently, the Jacobs Family Foundation announced a $15,000 donation that allowed them to buy expensive tanks of compressed air.

"We could not have run this program without these donations," he said.

They have allowed students such as seniors Brandon Guyn and Miky Paredes to chase their dreams of becoming firefighters.

Guyn's father is firefighter and he wants to follow in his footsteps. He thinks the fire science academy has helped him get ready.

Paredes, on the other hand, hasn't been dreaming of extinguishing flames since he was little. He wasn't sure he wanted to do it as a job when he started, but now he knows.

He has been on some 911 calls and has seen that the tactics they're working on in class can be used in the field.

"It really got me excited for my future career because this is what I want to do for the rest of my life," he said.

When they graduate from high school, they are guaranteed spots in the Palm Beach State College fire program that can get them their certifications after one semester.

Marshall is excited about the program's future. He dreams of getting a structure built behind the school that will be able to house two fire trucks.