One of the internships available through the Warsaw Area Career Center’s Work-Based Learning program is with the Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory.
It’s an opportunity that’s led to careers in firefighting or related fields for some students.
Kevin Terrazas, a 2022 WCHS graduate, is now a WWFT firefighter thanks to his prior Work-Based Learning (WBL) internship.
“I went from the Fire Rescue class at the high school my junior/senior year to the co-op position to part-time and now I’m a full-time firefighter,” he said.
When he was doing the internship, Terrazas knew firefighting was what he wanted to do. “No one really knows what they want to do in high school, but my freshman/sophomore year I was on YouTube and I saw the live fire rescue ... (and I thought), ‘Man, that’s really interesting. That’s something I want to do.’ A couple weeks later, we got to choose our classes and I saw that was an option, so I did that,” he said.
WBL put Terrazas in a position to learn real-life skills. “It put me in the firehouse. It put me in the job. It gave me hands-on experience with these guys so I actually got to go on calls and do things that actual firefighters do while getting my certifications,” he said.

    Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory firefighter Kevin Terrazas interned with the fire territory through the Warsaw Area Career Center Work-Based Learning program. After graduating high school in 2022, he was eventually hired on by the fire department as a full-time firefighter. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

Terrazas recommends the WBL internships to current and future students.
“It’s a really awesome program, I think. They gave me a job straight out of high school, and if it’s something you want to do, or maybe you’re not so certain, maybe give it a try and see if it’s something you want to do for sure. It’s an amazing program, I think, and it’s a great opportunity,” he stated.
Fire Chief Joel Shilling said if a person wants to become a firefighter outside of high school, typically the classes are two nights a week for about six to eight months.
“Being able to get it in high school, their certifications never expire. It helps us in the workforce. We changed our hiring age to 18, so if they - Kevin is the perfect example, hired at 18 right out of this program - not only does it help the career departments, but mainly the volunteer departments in the county, too. It is a struggle to get volunteer firefighters just because they have to dedicate their time. They don’t get compensated for it,” he said. “Having the ability to do this (WBL), they can go volunteer as well.”
Interns go through the same training that the firefighters would go through. Shilling said Lt. Max Kinsey, who is contracted with the school on his off-duty days, instructs at the school, along with firefighter Lukas Ellsworth.
“It does help us. The kids get to meet us and learn from us. Through this then, we’ll also - like Cohen (Heady) and Reed (Nelson), who went through the class last year - they get to come here and do the Capstone Project to finish out their pathway,” Shilling said.
Nelson said, “I just like being around the guys. Honestly, it’s nice getting paid, but we would have done this either way, paid or not paid because we’re just really interested in this. We love going on runs with everyone, getting experience to go to different places in town we would have never went before.”
Heady said, “It’s been really awesome being with the guys, like he said. They’ve really taken us under their wing and just really taught really well, and just letting us have this experience to the fullest, and it’s been awesome. Being in the fire truck is probably one of the funest things.”
He said probably his favorite part is the brotherhood the firefighters have.
The partnership between WCS and WWFT is a huge benefit for both parties, Shilling said.
Students can get four certifications through their training - Hazmat Awareness, Hazmat Operations, Fire 1 and Fire 2.
“Those are the basic requirements for firefighters. From there you can get into different niches. I believe they also their Technical Rescue Awareness, too, and those are four certifications that we require to even apply for a firefighter position,” Shilling said.
The WWFT has had a lot of students come out of the program, he said. Some may not have continued on, but others went and became EMTs or made a career out of firefighting like Terrazas.
WBL Coordinator Angie Heinsman said, “I think my favorite thing is how the guys, they call it a family, so when they write in their work logs, they talk about a family. So Reed and Cohen are very tight. They support them. The guys come support them through football or through anything. ... And, they absolutely love all of their experiences because Reed did a 24-hour shift because he was excited and they said, ‘Hey, you want to do it?’ And he did it. That was something he didn’t have to do. So when they get to do a new skill, they always tell me.”
Initially, she said they weren’t sure they’d be able to have two students interning at the WWFT, but Shilling fought for them because “they see so much potential in the fellas.”
Emily Campbell, WACC assistant director, said it’s just fun to see the passion that the students have. “It’s fun that they’re coming in and just talking about it like ‘I got to do this.’ Willingly doing a 24-hour shift. These boys are passionate and I think that’s really cool to see because that’s always what you want out of programs. We’re sending out kids who are passionate and want to do that,” she said.
What she loves about what the fire department does with the kids is grow them into young men and women.
“It’s evident with Cohen and Reed, especially, that they’re more than just students. They’re young men. And you guys have done a great job helping them grow that way,” Campbell said to Shilling.
“You always want the kids to leave any school with the academic piece and the knowledge in their content area, but the fact that we can say we’re providing them with these experiences and opportunities, but we’re also shaping them and helping them be good humans and good people and serving this community. I think that’s awesome,” she stated.
Students are already being vetted for the school year-long program for next year. Heinsman said the WWFT always gets to choose because Kinsey and Ellsworth are the ones who work with them so they need to know who will be the fit for them.
Kinsey said at the high school they teach the four main certifications one has to have to become a full-time firefighter or to apply to become a full-time firefighter.
“The kids can get those in a two-year span. And then with Work Based Learning, like with Reed and Cohen, they did everything they needed to do except Fire II, and now they’re working at the firehouse and getting their education through the firehouse as well,” Kinsey explained. “So they’re getting work experience, along with the certification education that they need.”
The WBL at WWFT is very hands-on. The students cut up cars, spraying water on fire, cutting roofs. “Everything we do, they’re doing with us,” Kinsey said.
He said Nelson and Heady are doing fantastic. “They are hard workers. They’re dedicated to the job. They’re fitting in really well. They’re great, great guys. We love having them,” Kinsey said.
When evaluating students for the WBL program at the fire department, he said one of the first things he looks for is passion. “You have to love the job. It’s a very hard job. It’s a strenuous job, mentally and physically, so they have to have that passion.”
He’ll also look at if the student is a hard worker, has a good work ethic and have a general grasp of what they’re learning. “Now this is very basic fundamentals when we start, so you have to have that foundation before we get you really into the heavy stuff. So if you’re coming to do Work Based Learning, I really want them to have that strong foundation also.”