Ocoee's first Teen Academy ignites interest in firefighting

Six months ago, members of the Ocoee Fire Department’s Station 25 realized there isn’t any link between high-schoolers and the fire academy. 

Realizing that, the Ocoee FD came up with the idea of a free program for teens in high school ages 14 to 18 who are interested in becoming a firefighter or first responder.

“Most people know what a teacher does, most people know what a doctor does,” said Mason Missler, Ocoee’s fire inspector and public educator. “Not a whole lot of people know the extent of everything that the fire department includes. Everybody knows that we put water on fire, but they don’t know that that’s only 20% of our calls.”

Missler said as a team, the department created Ocoee’s first Teen Academy, which gave local teens a glimpse into the life of a firefighter. 

Fully self-funded by the OFD, the academy consisted of nine days of hands-on learning from 6 to 8 p.m. July 14 to 24. Participants learn about CPR, extractions, first aid, fire hose training and more. Seventeen students from Ocoee, Windermere and West Orange high schools participated in this first academy.

“This blew my expectations to see the kids that seem to really want to be here,” Missler said. “(On July 16), they were outside in the hot sun in full gear, going through mazes, sweating like crazy, and they all came back the next day.” 

Yeniel Gltay, from West Orange High, said he underestimated how hot and heavy the gear would be but still hopes to be a member of a fire department one day. 

Like Gltay, many other teenagers were eager to learn more about the department and the skills necessary to be a part of the team. 

With bruises and scratches, all participants continued to learn by being involved in the academy, full of curiosity and a positive attitude. 

“They aren’t on their phones; they’re interacting with each other, they’re asking more questions,” Missler said. “They seem to enjoy it.” 

Students worked together as a team to successfully complete tasks at the academy. 

For example, students were sent through a blacked-out maze and worked together to find the exit. 

“Every single person went in it, and almost everybody made it completely through without assistance,” Missler said. 

His goal for Ocoee’s Teen Academy is simple: teach students how to work together. And as long as they learn something, he is happy. 

On Monday, July 21, the department landed a helicopter at the station with nurses and paramedics that fly for Orlando Health, allowing students to speak with critical care specialists and ask questions about the job. 

In the future, the department hopes to expand its community reach by providing programs to high schools. 

“We eventually are hoping to start a cadet program, so that will be an ongoing high school thing to get kids into the fire service,” Missler said. “So we were like, ‘why don't we do something before to show kids, to help (them) get into that?’”

Besides the expansion, the department also wants to see the Teen Academy become an annual offer to high-schoolers. 

 “I would like to see maybe some of these kids join the cadet program, and then some of these kids I know are seniors right now, so I would love to see them go to the fire academy and then get hired somewhere,” Missler said.