Students at Gulfport High take on new heights
Gulfport High School students spent their morning soaring to new heights at Gulfport Fire Station 3.
12th grade students in the law and public safety class at Gulfport High School stepped outside of the classroom and into a harness to learn about fire safety.
Law and Public Safety Instructor Jeremy Necaise said, “My seniors get to work a lot with first responders. They get to work with AMR. They get to work with the police department and the fire department. So, we do a lot of hands-on activities.”
Students learned about what it takes to become a firefighter and then strapped up and took turns climbing down and into windows. Senior Jalen Turner said, “It was way easier than I thought. It was pretty safe. They are doing good out here, keeping us safe out here.”
Senior Alex Tolar said, “It was very nerve wrecking. Honestly, just don’t look down. The hardest part was getting out of the window and trying to trust that rope. Once you’re going down, you’re good.”
Rappelling the four-story wall allows the students to get hands-on experience outside the classroom and a glimpse into the life of a firefighter. Gulfport Fire District Chief Chad Asher said, “We work at heights all the time 40, 50, up to 100 feet where our ladder trucks reach. So, this is apart of what we do with our new employees. We teach them to rappel. We have rope rescue technician classes that we host and since these young adults are about to go into the work force, they are about to graduate high school, we figured this is a great opportunity to get them out here and let them see what we do with technical rescue capabilities.”
Mr. Necaise says the goal is to encourage students to try new things while also learning about a career they could possible embark on. “To learn these skills, these very valuable skills, and they are learning them from professionals and they are getting the insight on is this something I potentially want to do after high school.”
