By: Gabriel Nochera
The St. Johns Firefighter Cadet Academy has helped foster the next generation of local leaders, preparing cadets for jobs in civil service, the military, medicine, police work, and of course, firefighting. The Academy, founded in 2022, has provided invaluable skills and experience to aspiring future protectors of St Johns County. The program has one simple motto that has shaped the Academy’s purpose, “To SERVE those in need.” Chief Whaley, the main administrator of the Academy and Deputy Chief of the St. Johns County Fire Rescue, states the program was created, “To provide insight on what it takes to be a firefighter/EMT in St. Johns County. They not only learn fireground and medical skills but also teamwork, leadership, accountability, responsibility and what it means to serve our community.” Programs such as this have allowed St. Johns County to become the best county to live here in Florida, according to niche.com.
Firefighters are crucial to everyday life. This program has created a pipeline of qualified future leaders and particularly firefighters. Chief Whaley said, “We began the program in January 2022 as a way to showcase our department but also as a potential for recruiting new members. There is no guarantee the cadets will be hired with us, but the ones that show initiative and drive have a good chance.” This program allows cadets to explore what goes into being a firefighter such as, “Identify different equipment used by fire rescue. They learn how to use a lot of the equipment and get ample practice […] They get to earn ride alongs where they get to go on real 911 calls with the crew.” Additionally, “They can compete against other cadets throughout the state. […] They earn certifications such as CPR and Emergency Medical Responder,” Chief Whaley explains.
Many students chose to join the program due to familial connections to fire rescue. One senior cadet states their motivation to join the program, “I have family in fire (rescue), I had family from 9/11, my grandfather he was firefighter during the time, some [cadets like me] do it for family.” Prior connections often times gives motivation for students to pursue fire rescue in the future. However, some students are interested in the benefits or impacts that come from being a firefighter. “You get paid to save lives, it’s a cool opportunity.”
The program has one simple motto that has shaped the Academy’s purpose, “To SERVE those in need.”
This program offers numerous events for students to compete or participate in that help develop leadership and physical skills crucial for fire rescue. As this cadet points out, “There’s a lot of volunteer opportunities. You meet a lot of people.” Additionally, there are competitive events where students get to simulate firefighting scenarios.
Despite this program only being a few years old at this point it has provided extraordinary support for enrolled students. Chief Whaley hopes to improve the program in the future by continuing, “to mentor local youth that can take these transferable skills into their future careers. Our board is also working on an annual scholarship for seniors to help pay for school.” The Firefighter Cadet Academy, under the guidance of Chief Whaley, has and will succeed into the future.
This program has provided students a way to get ahead in life. This cadet agrees, “it’s a really good program for helping people for sure.” Its has, “really good opportunities to expand their career. It’s very promising, very rewarding. You stay healthy and fit all the time for your career, so if that’s something you wanna do, pretty amazing, for sure.” For students interested in firefighting or any active career this program can provide a pathway for success.
To sign up for this program, students and parents attend an interest meeting and complete a compelling essay on why they want to be apart of this program. These students commit to bettering their community through the skills learned in this program and potentially become firefighters if they want to pursue that path in the future. Overall, this program provides an invaluable experience for future civic leaders that instills the skills and lessons needed to keep St. Johns County #1.
Pictured: Firefighter cadet pulling weight (Gabriel Nochera)
