A new class at a south Minneapolis high school is part of an expanded push to increase the diversity of the city's Fire Department.
Eleven students at Roosevelt High School were recognized Tuesday by Mayor Betsy Hodges, Fire Chief John Fruetel and Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson as they completed the first step in a course that will end with a chance to receive EMT certification. Alaready, the students have completed enough coursework to earn EMR --emergency medical responder -- status.
It's the first year for the student EMT program, which joins the department's "Explorer" program, another effort to give young people a close-up look at firefighting.
Fruetel said the new class provides a way for students to test out the possibility of working as a firefighter, or in another job at the city.
"I challenge some of the inner-city youth in the city of Minneapolis: if they would like to think about, are considering a career in the fire service, hopefully we're going to make that happen for them in the future," he said.
A department report from earlier this year noted that just over 32 percent of the Fire Department's workforce is made up of people of color. Women make up 14 percent of the department.
Students at Tuesday's recognition ceremony said the class has helped them imagine careers as firefighters, nurses and physical therapists.
Mark Alexander Mena-Rodriguez, 17, said he'd thought about being a first responder in the past, but now knows it's what he wants to do after school.
