Valerie Cassity - Special to the Sun

The Kern Valley High School Regional Occupation Center’s (ROC) Fire Science Program held its graduation ceremony last Friday, May 9, in which 24 of the original 32 students who originally started the class on January 7 received their certificates of completion.

The Fire Science class is run by the US Forest Service and was begun in 1997 by the Sequoia National Forest with purpose of teaching students basic fire fighting skills, CPR/First Aid, and proper use of chainsaws, among other skills. Students who completed the course are now eligible for positions in firefighting with any Federal agency, such as the Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management. Although all of the students sought positions in the relevant field, only five were hired onto fire crews through the class. 'The purpose is to give them an introductory knowledge of wildland firefighting,' said Forest Service Lead Instructor Cory Hoogendam, adding, 'This was an excellent class.'

This year’s 24 Fire Science Program graduates, described as “an excellent class” by Forest Service Lead Instructor instructor Cory Hoogendam, pose for a class photo prior to the students’ graduation ceremony May 9.

Although the program was offered through the Kern High School District ROC, it was open to all members of the public, and consequently had students aged 17-37.

The ROC’s mission is to provide exemplary career technical education career development and work force preparation that contributes to academic and career success. The Kern Valley High School students who took part in the program were eligible for senior awards, and for the Fire Science program, Brant Machado, Logan McBurady, and Justin Speakman received the Excellence in Fire Science awards; while Glenn Byrket was awarded the Outstanding Achievement in Wildland Science plaque for his achievements in the class. Another student, Jayson McDonald, was very pleased to have completed the class after being unable to do so the previous year due to a conflicting sports schedule. 'This class is really cool and I learned a lot,' he said.

The families of the students were invited to the final day of class, where Class Coordinator and USFS District Battalion Chief Angela Yearwood administered the certificates of completion of the course to each student after she and Hoogendam took turns saying a few words about what each individual had added to the class. Some had tried their patience, and others had been quiet and unassuming, but both instructors were proud of each young man who completed the course.

Yearwood announced that this will be her last year teaching the class, and thanked the students for making it a memorable one. She also had a message to the families of the students, 'We put them through a lot. There were times we were not nice. They got a little bit of reality of what it is really like on a fire crew,' she said. 'They learned some respect, learned to work as a team, and learned the words ’��adapt and overcome’ this semester.'