ATLANTIC CITY — Atlantic City High School students are again getting access to a first-hand look at police, fire department, beach patrol and emergency medical services careers.
Started in 2019 and temporarily paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, the program is now resuming and has come back stronger than before.
The public safety academy introduces students to representatives from the Atlantic City Fire Department, the Atlantic City Police Department, the Atlantic City Beach Patrol and Emergency Medical Services to give them an introduction to job options in public safety.
(Atlantic City Firefighter Shay Steele is the Board of Education President who helped make the Public Safety Academy a reality.)
“The optimum outcome is to have the program expose them to these career paths,” said Firefighter Shay Steele, the Board of Education president who has worked diligently to bring the program to fruition. “The end game is to increase career opportunities for Atlantic City residents.”
(Donald Harris, Director of Secondary Education, recently made a presentation explaining the merits of the Atlantic City High School Public Safety Academy.)
Donald Harris, Director of Secondary Education, said the students are exposed to an engaging, rigorous curriculum that could lead to lucrative jobs when they graduate. It also helps build positive relationships, Harris said.
“Every student is not going to college,” said Atlantic City High School Principal Constance Days-Chapman. “The high school provides access to other career paths.”
(The Atlantic City High School Public Safety Academy is being marketed through various platforms.)
There are approximately 30 students in the high school program. But at full capacity, the program will be able to accommodate about 150 students. The district is in its second full year of the program.
“We were a little derailed by COVID,” Harris said. “Now, we’re back on track.”
Although each of the elementary schools have public safety clubs that will eventually feed the high school program, students from Uptown Complex, Chelsea Heights and Texas Avenue elementary schools also have public safety explorer programs that more closely resemble the offerings at the high school.
The Atlantic City Public Schools system is partnering with the Jersey Shore Council of the Boy Scouts of America to institute the explorer program for approximately 25 students in 6th to 8th grades. “When you have police and firefighters that come from within the community, they have a different sense of responsibility,” Steele said. Steele said the program may help fill an information gap that has prevented residents from joining the public safety field.
Under the elementary school program, students from each of the three schools would also meet with representatives from the Atlantic City Fire Department, the Atlantic City Police Department, the Atlantic City Beach Patrol and Emergency Medical Services. Each week, students would explore the various career paths and meet with each agency at least once per month.
“Exploring teaches important life and career skills to young people from all backgrounds through immersive career experiences and mentorship provided by community and business leaders,” according to the Atlantic City Board of Education Public Safety Exploring Program Concept Sheet. “The program equips young people with character, leadership and life skills that can be used both today and in their future careers.”
