This year, the school introduced a new Emergency Medical Technician course taught by health science teacher and wrestling coach Jayson Conger. The class helps students get a certification that could help them get potential medical field jobs in the future.
“I was a medic in the United States Air Force and had a passion for emergency medicine,” Conger said. “The time I spent as a medic and EMT really ignited a fire, and it was something I wish that I would’ve had when I was in high school.”
Nine seniors are taking the course this year, including senior Ryner Boenisch who said he and others took the class to get a jumpstart in their careers.
“This will definitely help me in the long run in the sense of helping me become a firefighter,” Boenisch said. “If someone in a certain situation has some problem, I can help them.”
Senior Katalina Brunetti also said she liked the idea of taking an EMT course to give her more familiarity with her interests.
“The program will definitely give me good work experience,” Brunetti said. “Even if I don’t decide to be an EMT forever, it will give me a good certification and good experience with working with people.”
Brunetti also explained how she found out about the class.
“I had physiology last year and Coach Conger was the teacher,” she said. “Through that, I found that I really enjoyed the ideas of medicine and how the body works.”
There are upsides to having a small class size.
“There’s not a lot of people in the program,” Boenisch said. “We’re all pretty close, so it’s been really good.”
As for the actual class, Brunetti talked about what a typical class period looks like, which includes learning the basics of being an EMT for a certification.
“A lot of the class is online, but we do lots of practical stuff,” Brunetti said. “Like, the other day, we had a lab day where we got to practice different things that you’ll use as an EMT to help people.”