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Citizens Report 2017 | 39
to learn the expectations for the coming
year. The students report to Fire Hall
No. 1 every Thursday afternoon for four
hours where they learn an abbreviated
version of the same information and
skills that a career or paid-on-call
firefighter learns. As part of the program,
students are required to conduct a fire
and life safety inspection of their high
school and an elementary school in the
community. The students also teach a
fire safety lesson to their peers at their
home high school.
This is not an easy way to rack up
credits towards graduation, so why do
the young men and women apply for the
Youth Academy? We asked the 2017-
2018 class members in this photo and
they told us that they loved the hands-on
application of what they had learned, the
teamwork and discipline and that the
course opened their eyes as to what’s
required in the world of first responders.
In this photo you also see career
firefighters who were once part of the
program. In fact, the very first student
Robbie Bruce, who pioneered the Youth
Academy program, is a career firefighter.
He can be seen on page 15 as the
person demonstrating the data systems
in the trucks.
“At the end of the year, once you’ve
proven your knowledge and skills, you
have the chance to go to the Justice
Institute’s training centre here in Maple
Ridge and learn how to use the ‘jaws
of life’ and undertake a live fire training
exercise. In the smoke and heat of that
moment you either have what it takes
or you don’t. That experience galvanized
my decision to become a firefighter,”
said firefighter Robbie Bruce. “The
Youth Academy helped me find my
passion and my career. It’s great to have
these young men and women around
throughout the school year. I’m grateful
for the mentoring I received from the
firefighters when I was their age and this
program is a great way to pay it forward.”