October 20, 2004

Students practice safety first

TBA-ISD Public Safety program explores police, fire and EMS careers

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer

       From marching drills to donning firefighter turnout equipment, 54 students in the new Public Safety program at the Career Tech Center are getting a taste of police, fire fighting and EMS careers.
      Offered for the first time this fall, the program gives high school juniors and seniors in the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District a chance to learn about public safety. Dennis Padgett, a retired Traverse City Police Officer, directs and teaches the program, drawing on his decades of experience for the students.
      "The goal for the program is to introduce our students to the careers in public safety and protective services," Padgett noted. "It is not so much as a recruitment tool but as a means of giving a realistic viewpoint of what the job is all about. Then they can determine at an early age whether they want to pursue it as a career."
      Padgett noted that part of his job is undoing the slick images of television and it's inaccurate portrayals of these careers.
      "I want them to understand the real nature of the profession, and it isn't speeding around in your car, shooting your gun and arresting crooks," he said. "There's a lot of misperceptions; they know the glorious part, if there is one, but not the reality part."
      Frankfort High School senior Brady Lietaert has always dreamed of being a police officer. Growing up in a small town, he plans to work in a larger city where he can make a bigger difference.
      An enthusiastic member of the afternoon class of 29 students, Lietaert relishes the real world lessons provided by Padgett and an array of guests instructors.
      "This class has brought a lot of things to my attention and I'm glad that I know about them in advance," said Lietaert, who plans to attend college next year to study criminal justice. "I think it is great prep for college courses and if I hadn't had this I would have a higher stress level."
      "It has been a blast, by far this is the most bookwork I've ever done," he noted.
      The guest instructors include members of the Traverse City Police Department, both Rural and Metro fire departments and recruiters from the Marine Corps and Army. The representatives from the military take turns teaching students basic drilling and marching techniques, instilling the tenets of teamwork that are so crucial to the police, fire and EMS community.
      "I just don't know a better way of teaching kids discipline and respect than bringing in Gunny [Gunnery Sergeant Paul Meggison, a recruiter for the Marine Corps] and the U.S. Army," Padgett said. "They bring in a lot of talent and resources with them."
      Padgett also uses training tapes, lecture and round table discussion of scenarios in his classes. Ever meticulous, Padgett designates Wednesdays for drilling, ethics and discussion days while Thursdays for civilian emergency response training. Cathy Muma, coordinator of student life and security at Northwestern Michigan College, teaches that facet.
      "The kids when they graduate from this program will have a certification, one of the few high school programs in the nation that will have that," Padgett noted.
      The new Public Safety program may be the first of its scope in the state, said Jason Jeffrey, principal of the Career Tech Center. Although three or four other centers offer one aspect of public safety training, the new program based at TBA-ISD is the only one he knows of that combines all three careers.
      This fact, plus research by the Career Tech Center projecting job shortages in these areas regionally, prompted the school to offer the new program.
      "This program, as with all of our other programs, is one that we've decided to offer because we think it gives us an opportunity to get students ready to contribute as employees in this region," Jeffrey said.