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Comms Coach Podcast
Welcome to Comms Coach, the podcast that delves deep into the world of training and quality assurance for 9-1-1. Your host, Lori Henricksen, is a veteran in the field with more than 30 years experience as a dispatcher, trainer and high school teacher who started one of the country's first 9-1-1 Dispatch programs for High School students in Las Vegas, Nevada. In each episode, a lineup of expert guests dive into the critical aspects of emergency communications training, quality assurance and improvement. They share valuable insights, techniques, and best practices to help today's trainers and the next generation of unsung heroes. So whether you're an experienced dispatcher, leader, trainer or simply curious about how to set up and run training or QA programs in your center or school, get ready to embark on a journey of knowledge, growth, and inspiration. This is Comms Coach, building the strength behind every call.
Comms Coach Podcast
Season 3 Episode 6: Don't Wait for the Application: Recruiting 9-1-1 Before Graduation, with Tara Vann
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What if the next generation of 9-1-1 telecommunicators started learning the job before they ever filled out an application? In this episode, Lori Henricksen sits down with Tara Vann, Director of Jefferson County 9-1-1 in Kearneysville, WV, to talk about the center's high school emergency telecommunications pathway program and the results from its first year.
Tara shares how introducing students to 9-1-1 before graduation gives centers something a thirty minute interview never can: an entire school year to watch a student grow, learn the realities of the job, and understand how to cope with the stress of being the true first first responder. She walks through the wins, including a first year hire rate that outpaced every other CTE program in the county, congratulatory letters from state officials, and a graduation ceremony, caps, gowns, valedictorian and all, that turned seven students into local celebrities the newspaper called the Magnificent Seven.
The conversation doesn't stop at the highlight reel. Tara is candid about the real challenges of standing up a program like this: virtual learning limitations, school attendance policies that clash with center schedules, mismatched purchasing processes between county government and schools, and internet connectivity issues that can slow down CAD and other time sensitive systems. She also discusses the value of pursuing state teaching certification for center trainers who take on instructor roles.
For any 9-1-1 director considering a similar partnership with a local high school, Tara's advice is direct: go in without preconceived notions, understand it's a partnership built on mutual responsibility, and be ready to explain your why. Because as she puts it, recruitment doesn't have to start with a vacancy announcement. Sometimes it starts in a classroom.
In this episode:
- Why early exposure builds stronger telecommunicators than traditional hiring alone
- How a high school pathway program strengthens ties between agencies, schools, and communities
- The real operational and logistical hurdles of launching a school partnership
- What success looks like beyond hire numbers
- Advice for any agency considering a similar program
Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/comms-coach-podcast/
This is CommsCoach, a podcast that delves deep into the world of 911 emergency communications. Your host, Lori Hendrickson, served more than 20 years as a call taker, dispatcher, and trainer, and started one of the first 911 vocational training programs in Las Vegas. And now, your host of Comms Coach, Lori Hendrickson.
SPEAKER_00Hi there. I'm your host, Lori Hendrickson, and welcome back to another episode of the Comms Coach Podcast, where we explore important topics in training, education, quality assurance, leadership, and professional development in emergency communications. Most 911 agencies begin recruiting when a position becomes vacant and a job announcement is posted. Today we're discussing a different approach: introducing students to emergency telecommunications, developing their skills, and creating a potential pathway into the profession before they even graduate from high school. This subject is especially meaningful to me because I've had the privilege of creating and leading a high school emergency telecommunications program for many years. Today we'll explore this idea from a dispatch director's perspective. My guest, Tara Vann, director of Jefferson County 911, helped establish an emergency telecommunications program for high school seniors in West Virginia. After completing its first year, the program is now welcoming its second group of students. I had the privilege of watching her presentation about the program at the National Nina Conference this summer, and I was totally amazed at all of the things that they've accomplished so far with this program. I think she's an absolute rock star. I am so excited to be able to have this discussion with her today and for our audience. We hope this will give you some great ideas and inspire you to start something in your area as well. Welcome, Tara, and thank you so much for joining me today.
SPEAKER_03Hi, Lori. Thank you so much for having me.
SPEAKER_00I appreciate it. I'm so excited for this. So let's just get started. To begin, can you briefly tell us about your background, your current role, and the emergency communications center that you lead? Sure.
SPEAKER_03So I started 911 Communications back way back in 2000. Uh started off as a 911 dispatcher, moving up through uh the ranks as a shift supervisor, uh, then to an operations supervisor, uh, then as a deputy director here at Jefferson 911, and then was promoted to the role of director August of last year. And I am a certified uh EPCO CPE and RPO. And um, you know, this current role that I'm in right now is just absolutely amazing. I love it. The staff that we have here are amazing. It's a great group of people that we have. The communications center here. We dispatch police, fire, and EMS. Jefferson County is about 212 square miles. We have uh five different law enforcement agencies that we dispatch for as well. Um so we're busy for the the little county that we're in, but uh definitely uh a great place to uh land after being in the Virginia system for 24 and a half years. So I'm definitely looking forward to uh continuing to do great things here at Jefferson.
SPEAKER_00Wow. And you guys are busy, and you decided that we're not busy enough, so let's start program. Great. But it's so beneficial, and that's what we'll talk about today. So, how did the idea of actually partnering with a local school system to create a program first develop? And then what convinced your agency to become involved?
SPEAKER_03So it started off uh by the school looking for new programs to put in their um CTE, which is their career and technical education curriculum. They had approached the county administrator and you know said, Hey, did do you have anything? Are you aware of anything, you know, that could possibly, you know, be a good idea? Initially didn't have anything, and then we started actually before I was in the role of director, they started looking further into it, and as every other 911 center across the country, staffing was an issue. And county administrators like, you know what? I do have a program. How about this? Well, we need staffing in 911. What better way to start recruiting is to get them very, very early on, and that kind of formulated and started the conversation, and we said we'll start seniors in in high school and we will introduce them to the world of 911, and it'll be an excellent way for them to give back to their community. It'll help us address our staffing shortages, and it's also going to provide an opportunity for the students who number one might not be ready for college just yet, may not have the resources to do college right away, or just might not be sure if college is the way that they want to go, but they do have the desire to want to give back to the community and to the public. So that's how it all started.
SPEAKER_00Awesome. And just kind of a sub-question on that. When you guys had had said, okay, yes, emergency telecommunications would be a great program. Had they really ever even thought of that or even really knew what dispatchers did before, you know, that idea sparked?
SPEAKER_03I think a lot of people have a tendency to be naive as to what we really do. You know, I think when they think about 911 dispatchers, maybe they think about a call center, you know, they just, oh, we answer the phones and oh, okay, and you do uh take some information down, and where that information goes, nobody really knows. Um but they they kind of miss the mark on the stress of it, you know, the the urgency of it and all the other things and the training that's involved in it. And once we explained the school and gave them kind of the 360 overview of that, uh they were interested, you know, they didn't waver from it, they were like, oh, well, this is this is really interesting. Um, yeah, we definitely, definitely can do this. So, you know, they didn't shy away from it, but I I think that it was definitely not exactly what they thought it was gonna be. And then it it once we started building the program and telling them all the things that we could do with the program, they they became even more interested in it and and realized that it in fact could be something really, really beneficial to everybody and and and really be a good opportunity for kids to to give back and and to grow themselves. I mean, the and endless opportunities for them.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. And it and yeah, and and I know we'll talk about this a little bit later too. Um, but I I think too, once they realize that it's not just answering the phone, and there's so many aspects to it, and so many cool things that we actually do that can entice the students to want to be a part of there. So there's a lot of technology involved anymore. So it it's kind of a again, a cool program for the students to be able to be involved in.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00So can you describe how the program works, including how students are selected, what they learn, and then how the classroom experience connects with the communication center?
SPEAKER_03Sure. So the idea was is we would start the information um to the students uh the junior year because the program is only for seniors. So we would start uh and they would go through an interview process there towards the end of their junior year. Um it's kind of like going through a job interview. Um, you know, we would have the training coordinator here at Jefferson County. So Catherine King would go through and she would have, you know, an interview panel with uh some of the school board people, and we would sit down and would talk to them. And one of the really good questions in this was how would this benefit you and your family in the future if this would be something that you would get the opportunity to to do? Oh, I like that. Yeah. And you know, so it wasn't just well, you know, it'll it'll fill time in my schedule. I've already gotten all my classes, or you know, I was just looking for something different. It it it made them think, you know, that's what we wanted these students to do was think right off the bat, you know, to go ahead and get that instinct of quickly being able to react to things because that's what we do, right? As 911 dispatchers, we're we're paid for our our quickness to respond and and react to things, and that's what we wanted them to do. So they go through the interview process and then they're selected for the class. Um, when they start the class, the class is five days a week. Um, they go to uh Jefferson has um remodeled one of the old elementary schools, and it's now the uh what they call the RISE building, and it's a secondary education building. They have several different programs there. So those uh county school buses transport the kids each day for two hours a day to the RISE building, and we have a classroom set up there, and they take the class there. And uh so overall they will become uh ETC certified, they will get NEMS 1, 2, 7, and 800. Uh, we talk about the what three words. Um, they will get CPR and first aid certified. Um they will become familiar with our CAD for the center, the geography of Jefferson County. Um, you know, a lot of people nowadays, and until I started in this uh profession, it was oh, you go down to where that old house burned three or four years ago and you hang a right by the tree that's fallen down. You know, we didn't didn't quite get those directional things like we all do now, and we know north, south, east, west, and and route numbers and things like that. So, you know, we ingrain that in them that it's not just uh, you know, down the road away, there's actual direction. So we we work very hard on the geography and you know, so they get a good portion of that. We practice call taking procedures. Um, then once they get to a certain point in that training, they will start coming here to the center two days a week. Um, and that's where we really have fun. Um we come into the EOC here at the center and they do their classroom portion here in the center, but then we also get the staff that work here that are CTOs kind of involved in their their training as well. And that's when we get the staff involvement. The CTOs get to meet the the high school students, and you know, we start building that um that relationship and that camaraderie and and kind of welcoming them into the into the 911 family in that environment and and getting them used to phones constantly ringing, things constantly going on, you know, being in the center and things like that. Um, and then you know that those are the certifications that they have by the end of the year. And then we worked out an agreement with the school board for anybody who does want to apply and wants to continue on into the process with us. The school board has agreed to pay um for their EFD, EPD, and EMD certification classes. So Jefferson County School Board will actually pay for them. So this first class that we did at the end of the school year, then we brought them in and the school board covered the cost of them. So, you know, we have a great working relationship with the school board, and they were able to take care of all of that. Um, and you know, it just worked out great for everybody.
SPEAKER_00So that's awesome. So there's so many really, really cool things that I think that you guys do. And one of the things that I absolutely love is that it's away from their normal high school and that they're immersed in it for two hours a day. That's huge. And I know a lot of schools would have to be jealous of that because there's so much, and especially when you're teaching call taking or whatnot, when you're really getting into it, two hours flies by. I mean, it seems like it's a lot of time, um, but it really does fly fly by. So I think it's it's very useful and amazing to have that and then to have it five days a week. And then all of those, the certifications and everything that they receive there are golden because they're getting them. So when eventually they come to you, they already have those certs, they've already been trained with with all of that. If for some reason they didn't go to you or went to another center, that center would have to be very appreciative of it too, to have them coming in with all of these things already that take a lot of time and and effort. Um, and then another thing that I really like is I like how you um transition over to the two days a week at the center. And I'm sure it's probably like this for you, but I know when I when I did have students go to on field trips to our centers or do some sit-alongs, they they weren't um afforded the chance to be able to go in like you know, the days a week that that your students are. They would look at the the current dispatchers as absolute rock stars. And they yeah, and and that kind of gave a new energy to the dispatch center itself. Because, you know, you get in that uh I don't know, that groove of, you know, coming into work every day, everything can be so negative on the phones, and you don't really understand that people appreciate you, so it's nice to be able to work with this new generation and have them again kind of energize. Is that kind of how it was?
SPEAKER_03Or absolutely, yeah. And they were full of questions, you know, and I think kids just generally are curious, and once you get past that barrier, which by the time they come here to the center, they were already past that, you know, because we combine two different high schools. There's two high schools in Jefferson County, so we had some from one and some from another. So when they all got to the classroom, of course, not everybody knew everybody. So we had kind of that burn-in phase with them of getting to know each other. So by the time we actually got to the center, they were good with each other, they were comfortable. So now everybody was pretty laid back. So and Catherine and then Lori, the other lady that um is our EMD coordinator that also helps with the program, they had talked so much, and you know, almost like these kids kind of knew a lot of the people here at the center. So they're like, I recognize that name, I recognize that name. I'm gonna go ask, you know, so they they kind of had those those conversations with them, and you know, and those were the people that were coming into the class and were, you know, helping do some um some role playing and things like that. And, you know, they just had a great time with them. So they got to give them their little, you know, tips and tricks. And, you know, oh, I remember when I first started, and you know, of course the kids were like, Well, how long ago was that? And we've got some people here that were like, really? You know, and then we've got a good group of people here that have just been here for a couple of years, and that doesn't seem quite as long ago for the this younger generation, but it it's been really, really awesome to kind of watch those those friendships and mentorships, if you will, grow. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00I think there's a lot to be said on the not that just recruitment and retention of the the newest generation, but on the retention of the the current dispatchers that are in there, if they get to to do a program like this or get to to have people come in, these students and get them energized and have them feel refreshed and have them be excited about what they do, I think it's really good for retention for the people that are currently there.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, absolutely. Like you said, you know they come every day and you know, you know, work, leave, repeat, work, leave, repeat, you know, so this kind of gives them something to look forward to. And oh, on Tuesdays and Thursdays or Mondays and Wednesdays, or you know, whichever days of the week they know that they're coming, they look forward to that. And they know for two hours a day it's gonna be a little lively in the in the center in the EOC when uh when the high school students come in, and and it definitely is lively when they come in.
SPEAKER_00So oh yeah, I'm sure. I know this.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_00So some some people um may or do question whether high school students have the maturity or the life experience required for emergency communications. So after working with that first group, what have you learned about the readiness and potential of these students?
SPEAKER_03So I think maturity is something that we do not expect a high level of sometimes for high school students. But I think that that maturity also depends for anybody that walks into a 911 center. For anybody, I think it depends on your life experiences, you know, mine different than yours, different than somebody who's been here five years, 30 years, or somebody that I hire three months from now that may be just turning 18, 19. Um, you know, that's why this program is so good because it gives us a year. It gives us a year to say, you know, okay, you come in, you're having a great time, and we're glad that you're having an awesome time doing this, but you can also have that fun, but then when you put you know that headset on and you start taking those calls, we need you to be at this level because this is when it's serious, you know, and being able to spend that time every day, two hours a day, and have them understand that um, you know, even though they're seniors, they're about to be 18. Um, you know, it just like I said, it depends. That maturity level is different for everybody. And, you know, some people grow up very quickly, some don't. And it it's just I think once this last group that we had that come through, we had a drill um in April that we did. It was an active shooter drill, and they had learned for so many months about call taking and radio traffic and officer safety and things like that, that one of the portions in this drill was um an officer gets shot, and one of the other officers um radios that they have an officer down, and we had um three of the uh high school students in the center observing, and when this officer um yelled that over the radio, every single one of them turned around and the looks on their faces, even though they knew it was role-playing, they got it, you know. Even though it was role-playing, they knew it wasn't real. Um, these were kids that what, eight months ago had no idea what that meant. But eight months' time we had gotten them to that level that they knew what that meant, and they knew even role-playing and practicing-wise, how serious that was, and something you could see switched in them, and you could see it on the looks on all three of their faces, and then they watched how everybody else in the center reacted to that radio traffic and what they did from that point on, and they were all hooked, they were they were there, you know, they were just absorbing everything that they possibly could watching that, and you know, that's the stuff that we work on teaching, and I think we did a really good job in in relaying that message and and that that energy and and that knowledge because they got it, you know, they got that, they understood.
SPEAKER_00Well, and that's the thing. So I I think we've talked about this before. I um I started dispatching when I was 16 while I was still in high school. And when I first started teaching at the school, I did have some agencies come through, you know, to tour the dispatch lab and and all of that and talk about partnerships. And I heard from several um chiefs and and high-up staff that said, well, yeah, what about the maturity level? Or um, you know, they don't have the life experience. And my my thing was like kind of like you said, everybody matures in a different way. And we, if we give them the knowledge, skills, and abilities as they mature, because I started in depth in my program junior year, but obviously junior year, I'm not gonna teach active assailant. I'm not gonna teach, I'm gonna teach the history, I'm gonna teach phonetics, you know, I'm gonna teach the basics, and then the the skills and and actually the curriculum will mature with with that student. So if they have those tools, um, then they can be ready. And the other thing is the life experience, you know, they said, well, they haven't experienced some of the calls that they're gonna take. I says, I have not experienced some of the calls that, and I hope I never experienced some of the calls that I take. So we don't necessarily need to have lived through. Shooting, stabbings, and and all of this, um, to be able to have that empathy and to be able to have the critical thinking skills and all of those type of things that you need to have to be able to handle these. So, yes, I totally agree with you that that with what we teach them, and depending on their maturity, I mean there's 30-year-olds that aren't mature enough to do this job. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, and there's a center for every student. Maybe there's a student that graduates and maybe they're not quite ready. But honestly, going through a program like this, they'll be at the point where they'll know that they're not ready.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00And they might need a little bit of time before they they um start. And that's okay. That's a good thing to know. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03Especially when they know it and they don't try to force themselves to do it just because they're like, oh, I've had the training now, now I'm ready to go. You know, and then they walk in and the first time that they take that one bad call, and then we've lost them for good, you know, and they never want to come back into a center or you know, it so yeah, it's it's definitely good when they realize that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah. And maybe there's something else that's still in public safety or still that they can do something for other people. And usually that's the case, because once they're an emerge emerged in a program like this, they really learn to love doing things for other people. Doing something for someone besides themselves, yes.
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SPEAKER_00So, from your perspective as a director, what are the greatest benefits of introducing students to 911 before graduation for the students, the agency, and the community itself?
SPEAKER_03So it provides the students with the opportunity to seek another option of public service. You know, it helps to give back and help people. Uh, to start students with 911 before graduation, it just gives them the foundation that we can take the time to grow, develop, and nurture them. You know, the 911 industry as a whole struggles with staffing. We hire people when we want to get them through training process and onto the floor so they can provide relief to those people that are working those 12 and you know 16-hour shifts and that endless overtime. This gives us one-on-one time throughout the entire school year to invest in explaining the job, the struggles, how to cope with the stress, how the job that we do makes an impact, and how being the true first, first responder affects every 9-1-1 call that they will ever take and they will ever answer. You know, agency-wise, it develops a partnership with these students that a 30-minute job interview will not do. You know, we get to to watch these students as they develop through that last year. You know, as an agency, we get to see them grow and develop, how they handle tasks, skills, you know, the information that's required to do the job. We get to see our return on our investment, if you will, you know, and the community, well, the community gets to benefit gets the benefit of having people who grew up here and who want to stay here locally and give back, you know, work here, stay here, and keep their home safe. When we had our open house and the parents would come and our graduation, these students' parents were so excited. And oh my gosh, especially with the graduation, you know, parents rolled in and they had flowers and they, you know, and and all this other stuff, and it was just their faces. They were just absolutely amazed. Of course, we did our graduation and we did gold caps and gowns, you know, the gold lines. Right. Yeah, like I mean, we we did it up. I mean, we ordered the caps and gowns for them. We had a valedictorian, you know, we had uh a guest speaker. Um, you know, I wanted this to be a graduation for them because they had truly earned the right to celebrate, you know, this this venture and this journey. And their parents were just so proud of them. They were proud of themselves too. You know, they there were seven of them in the first group, and they they were really, really they called them the magnificent seven, is what the papers called them.
SPEAKER_00So that's too funny.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, and and they were proud as parents, but the cool thing is is they also learned about this profession through their students or through their their their children. And not only did they learn about the profession, they learned about when and when not to call 911 and a little bit more about the system, and so did the whole community. So it really did help in educating the community about all of this too.
SPEAKER_03So even the ones who didn't come on with us and and work. I mean, they knew, you know, don't call 911 yelling and screaming, and don't well, you know what my address address is, and you know, you know where I am, but you know, those preconceived notions, they all were taken care of at that point, and they can educate others, and that was that was really good. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. And I know we've we talked so positive, you know, we've we've been so positive about this, and I always am. I'm like, oh, this is a great program. But there always are challenges. So, what are some of the greatest challenges during the first year, whether related to staffing, scheduling, funding, instruction, school requirements, I could go on and on or preparing students for the realities?
SPEAKER_03So, um, you know, the the inclement weather days were a struggle. Um, the virtual, you know, it's virtual is not, I'm not gonna say it's easier for regular curriculum, but you know, it's it's kind of hard to do what we do, you know, and um have that virtual. So that's still something that we're um talking about and and working on and trying to figure out how we're gonna conquer that again this year because that that is something that, you know, how do we come up with things for them to do virtually when they're not in school? How do we make that time up? Um, you know, because that's something that's very important. You know, school has an attendance policy. Well, that attendance policy is really, really crucial for us because only two hours a day, you know, when we have such a packed, you know, schedule is very important. The school's purchasing process, you know, and how that all kind of ours is different than theirs, you know. Ours is, you know, county government and that's one thing, but then the schools is something way different, and just because we don't work for the schools, you know, it it's how do we do it with them? How do we do ours? The information technology, just trying to get on the same page as the schools versus the counties. The county we provided all of the uh computers and stuff that they logged on because we did, you know, all the virtual clients, so making sure all that's done, but then cell phone uh I'm sorry, internet signal was a huge issue. Um I think maybe just because it was an older block building, and you know how those are when it comes to internet service. So just trying to overcome that because you know you're self-running CAD and you know, trying to do things with uh messing around with rapid SOS and and doing just a plethora of other things, it's gotta be quick. It can't be lagging, and when it does, it slows everything down. So those were a lot of the things we did explore the notion. Um this year, they did not, and they're not going to require Catherine to um to get her teaching certificate through the state of West Virginia, but that is an option for her. Should she choose to do that, they can walk her through that process, you know, and that's something that I think that would be a great benefit for us to have her do that because then the school has entrusted us with their kids and how we want to go about teaching them. So I think in turn that would be a great idea for us is to venture over and to take that training so everything, you know, would kind of be across the board, you know, we could make that agreement and show that you know we had the the buy-in and then that we agreed to do things and you know uh ETC instructor is what Catherine has now, and she's been a uh a trainer and and things like that for a long time. But just being able to have that certification through the schools, I think would be something that would show, you know, on our part that you know we were committed to this, and it wasn't just a year or two, and then we were gonna, you know, just kind of fade away because we we truly are committed to this thing being around for a long time. So, but that was just some of the struggles, just some of the technical, and then you know uh, but it's okay. We've we've managed to conquer some of them. We're still working on some of the more more uh challenging ones, and and we'll get there. So there you go.
SPEAKER_00And I always say challenges make you stronger. So absolutely, absolutely. Did the first year produce any recruitment or workforce outcomes that demonstrated the program's potential? Um, beyond hiring numbers, how do you define whether the program is successful?
SPEAKER_03So we successfully hired 30% of our first class.
SPEAKER_01That's awesome.
SPEAKER_03And that number, when Ian and I presented um at Nina, uh he even said that that number was higher than any of the other CTE programs that Jefferson County had.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So first year, that makes me feel really, really good that we are headed down the right path. And, you know, that this has the potential to be just as successful all the years following as it did the first year. And that just kind of raises the bar for us every year following, right? To make sure that it's better and better and better, and that's what the goal is. You know, the numbers are great. The first graduation, the students received congratulatory letters from Senator Justice from West Virginia, Governor Morrissey, Delegate Rucker, Congressman Moore, um, delegate Funkhauser attended the graduation along with several other county officials, county commissioners, um, the fire department, the county commissioners, the county administrator have all been so supportive. You know, so I think that has all been very, very beneficial. But more importantly, I think I determined the success of the program by the seven students that came together last August and made the decision to learn about the profession that so many of us have cared so deeply about, and that not everyone can do. You know, they learned the importance of being someone's lifeline and being able to help people in need and feel good about it. Um, they learned that not every call has a happy ending. In fact, more often than not, they don't. But they they learned that that there was a team of people that could help them through those times and that they were welcome into our center, and it was full of professionals that encouraged their success and were there to help them grow and succeed in every possible way imaginable. And I think that's how I could measure the success of this program more so than than anything else is just knowing that everybody took a part in this and made sure that that you know we were successful and that the students had the best possible experience.
SPEAKER_00And that is huge. I mean, because to have have the support and the buy-in from the entire community like that, um that's how you build success and that's how you can just keep getting stronger and stronger, you know, every year. And I mean, for any of our listeners out there, if it's just you or your agency and and the school, that's okay. That's okay. But the more that you can have others assist, it you become a team. And the students really do benefit from that team because they're gonna be a part of it, they're gonna be a part of the community, they're gonna be a part of of these agencies. So it's it's really nice when you have that backing.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00If another 911 director wanted to approach a local high school about creating a similar pathway, what advice would you give them and what do you wish you had known when you guys first started?
SPEAKER_03Um, I would say to go into the conversation with no preconceived notions. Uh, the only ideas not explored or tried are the ones that you don't mention. Um, understand that you are entering into a partnership with mutual responsibility. The school is entrusting you with their students, and in turn, you are providing the school with an alternative education path for students to be productive citizens and give back to their community. Um, you know, in their hometown, they get a full-time job making a really good salary right out of high school. Um, you know, full benefit package right now. West Virginia are 911 professionals are lucky enough to be included in uh the 20-year retirement um for the state, which is amazing. So they can do this and go have another career, you know. At 18, they don't really think about that 20-year retirement, but their parents are behind them with their fingers going, that's what you need to do. Take that job. Kids are like, whatever. No, kidding. Um but uh but I mean it's great. I mean, to think about, you know, they can retire at, you know, 36. Uh no. Yeah, 38. I'm sorry. Tara can't do math. Math got Tara. But we do 911, not math. Right, that's right. We got a computer for that. It's okay. We know Latin long. Exactly. Right. But and then the the opportunities for advancement, you know, like moving through the ranks and you know, a specialty, CIT, you know, peer-to-peer. APCO has a plethora of things, Nina has a plethora of things that you can do. It doesn't just stop once you're a 911 dispatcher on the floor. My goodness, it, you know, if 26 years in this industry history has taught me anything, it's that the sky's the limit, you know, and you can do anything that you are willing to put the time in. But the main thing that you have to do is get the buy-in from the schools, the buy-in from the kids and the parents. And like Simon Sinek says, you have to explain your why. You have to explain to them why this is important and why you're so invested in it and why it's a good program. And that's I think what we've done and why it was so successful.
SPEAKER_00And I totally agree. Like I said, I'm a huge fan of what you guys have done there, and I'm looking forward to hearing about the experiences of the the students that are already starting again for this next year. Yeah, yeah. So is there anything else that you would like to share with our listeners about the students, the program, or its future?
SPEAKER_03You know, I think that if your agency has the opportunity to explore something like this, um, I say take the leap and do it. Um you know, you don't know until you try. And there's no harm in trying, right? Fail, first attempt in learning. So just go ahead and do it. And and it has worked out really, really well for us. And my goal is to continue this program. Uh, we've got some really great kids this year. Funny story, two of them didn't even uh interview for this, and for some reason the school stuck them into the program, and both of them want to stay. They don't want to leave now, two weeks in, and they're like, heck no, we're not leaving. We want to stay. So possible like, how do they even get here? And they're like, we don't know, but they just kind of got stuck in here and just by accident, and now they want to stay. And uh, so yeah, so we've got two that had no idea, but now they're they're excited about it. So um, yeah, we'll see what happens. But thank you so much for all of your work that you do, Lori. I mean, you're you're amazing, and then your plight for educating people on 911 and making sure that everyone is aware and and uh all that you do for us. I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_00Well, thank you. Thank you, thank you. But no, seriously, thank you for sharing your experience and giving us an honest look at both the opportunities and the challenges of building a high school emergency telecommunications program. So thank you for being here today. Thank you very much. I appreciate it as well. So this conversation reminds us that recruitment does not have to begin with a vacancy announcement. By partnering with schools and introducing students to 911 before graduation, communication centers can take an active role in developing informed, prepared, and enthusiastic future professionals. The future of 911 may already be sitting in a local classroom. We simply need to reach those students and show them where this profession can take them. The sky's the limit. Remember to come back to CommsCoach Podcast for more conversations designed to help ensure that your center is the best that it can be. If you have an idea for a future topic or would like to share your expertise, please email me at Lori, which is L-O-R-I, at C O M S Coach.com, or Lori at GovWorks.ai, and that's G-O-V is in Victor W O R X dot AI. Thanks again for listening and until next time.