PHOTO BY BOB ROCHE
J. Pace & Son employee Maria Golen helps Saugus High School juniors Kristen Barry, middle, and Jessica Jeffrey with a brownie tray.
BY BRIDGET TURCOTTE
SAUGUS — Local firefighters ignited an interest in six Saugus High School students during the school’s Shadow Day.
About 80 students and 70 mentors participated in the annual program Wednesday, which has been organized by math teacher Laurie Golan for more than 20 years.
Golan pairs high school juniors with local professionals working in a variety of careers based on the student’s interests. This year, the Fire Department added fuel to the fire by demonstrating a realistic fire training exercise for the students.
Firefighters have been using a trailer, called a mobile training unit, to practice live fire training exercises all week, said Fire Chief Michael Newbury. The training is conducted in the lot outside the department.
Bill Cross, a firefighter with the department, who has served as a program mentor for 20 years, said he saw an opportunity to do something different with the children this year.
“This is a great opportunity for them to watch this stuff,” Cross said. “These kids are seeing, in the personal sense, what a fire is really like.”
Inside the trailer, a fire is controlled safely by an operator manning a switchboard. The students gathered to watch in anticipation, as firefighters entered to extinguish the flames.
Conditions simulated a bed fire, located in the rear corner of the trailer. As firefighters made their way through the trailer, the operator changes conditions and fire erupts in other locations, as it would in a real fire.
“Shadow day is a great opportunity to show high school students different career paths,” Cross said. “I’ve had four kids come through Shadow Day and become firefighters.”
One of the students, Anthony Arone, became a Saugus firefighter and participated in the program as a mentor this year.
At the Saugus Police Department, students accompanied Chief Domenic DiMella and a few officers on a tour of the department; participated in a seminar on policing; learned how to shoot at the department’s gun range; and discussed paths to becoming an officer.
“One student, who wants to work in this field, is considering becoming a Marine,” he said. “(Shadow Day) is great for kids interested in the line of work,” he said. “They get a taste of police operations.”
Joseph DiVola, a student, said he never considered a career in law enforcement, but chose to shadow an officer because he had heard from friends that it was a great experience. A few hours into the program, DiVola said he was hooked on police work.
Student Max Hunt said he has always wanted to become a police officer and the experience only reaffirmed his decision.
Michael Hashem, acting superintendent of Saugus Public Schools, said while the program is effective in showing students careers they want to pursue, it’s just as effective in helping them decide what they don’t want to do before they go to college.
The mentors also like having somebody show an interest in their career, Hashem said.
“It unites the students with community members,” he said,
Shadow Day is sponsored by the Saugus Business Education Collaborative.
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte.