In this Learning in Lake Oswego episode, we’re spotlighting an exciting new opportunity for high school students—the Firefighter Mentor Program with the Lake Oswego Fire Department! This program provides hands-on experience, mentorship, and insight into a career in firefighting. Two student participants, Vi French (a Lakeridge High School junior) and Aidan Shannon (a Lake Oswego High School senior), discuss their experiences. From emergency response training to leadership development, they share what they’ve learned, their challenges, and how this program shapes their future aspirations.
Dr. Jennifer Schiele, Superintendent, LOSD
Mary Kay Larson, Executive Director of Communications, LOSD
Aidan Shannon, Student, Lake Oswego High School
Vi French, Student, Lakeridge High School
MICHELLE ODELL:: [00:00:00] Welcome to Learning in Lake Oswego, a podcast providing educational insights for an engaged community. Lake Oswego School District Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Schiele will discuss what's important to our learning community. She'll be joined by experts examining various topics, answering important questions, and sharing upcoming events and activities you won't want to miss.
And now, it's your host.
MARY KAY LARSON:: Welcome to Learning in Lake Oswego, the podcast where we explore the many ways our school district enhances students learning experiences. I'm Mary Kay Larson, your host, joined by our superintendent, Dr. Jennifer Schiele. Today we're talking about a new program that many people haven't heard about. But whenever I mention it, they're very interested.
It's the Firefighter Mentor Program between our district and the Lake Oswego [00:01:00] Fire Department. It makes sense because many parents in our community serve as firefighters and we have a long history of students going into the firefighter program. So I love that we have this formal mentor program that's been started.
Joining us are two of our high school students in the program, Vi French, a junior at Lake Ridge High School, and Aidan Shannon, a senior at LO High. We can't wait to hear about their experiences. Jen, let's get started. All
DR JENNIFER SCHIELE:: right, let's jump in. Welcome Vi and Aiden. We're so glad you're here and excited to hear from you.
All right, let's start with the basics. Can you tell me a little bit about yourselves and what inspired you to join the Lake Oswego Fire Department Mentor Program? Vi, you can go first.
VI FRENCH:: Well, I'm a junior at Lake Ridge High School. I I'm on Varsity Basketball and Varsity Flag. Pretty much sports and school are the main things going on right now, and then this mentorship is new for me.
Speaker 3: Your situation is a little [00:02:00] unique because you just mentioned you play basketball. Your coach, Jason Brown, actually contacted me and said, Hey, I heard that This fire program is going on. And is there any way I can get one of my players on this program? So how did that whole conversation
Speaker 4: go with coach Brown?
Coach Brown and I have a really good relationship and I've been on the varsity team for two years now. So I know him pretty well. And I go up to his classroom during the day sometimes, and sometimes I eat lunch in there with some friends. So. He's known that I want to go into firefighting for a while, but I was just talking to him about it And then him and Miss Rizdan started talking.
They were like, oh, we just heard about this mentorship And I was like, oh really and then they just kind of got the ball rolling. That's fantastic.
Speaker 3: How about you Aiden? Tell us a little bit about yourself. What do you like to do? And how'd you get involved in this?
ADIAN SHANNON:: I'm a senior at Lake Oswego High School. I play water polo.
I'm one of the captains on the team. And I heard about the mentorship program from my counselor. And [00:03:00] she was like, hey, like, you want to do this? And I was like, totally, let's try and figure it out. It just worked out. It was awesome.
Speaker 3: That's great. So, Vai, you said that you're just starting in the mentor program.
As I kind of mentioned, you know, your coach had contacted me after I already kind of set this up. And because it's brand new to us and the fire department, really, I'm kind of just working with Don Johnson, who's the fire chief, and we were kind of trying to piece something together. So, not always does the superintendent kind of plan these things, but I kind of took it under my wings because I thought it was such a cool thing.
So, even though you're just I know that you've also gone to the firefighter camp. Can you tell me a little bit about that? And then what about that makes you like, okay, maybe I do want to keep studying this more. I want to get a mentor.
Speaker 4: Aiden and I actually did it together. That's how we know each other.
But so it was July and it was a three day camp. It was like a full day thing. And we would, we did pretty much like everything. Like we threw ladders, we connected hoses. What does that mean? Throw a ladder. So [00:04:00] throwing a ladder is like. How you get a ladder up onto the building. Cause it's not as easy, it's just like picking a ladder up and putting it against the building.
There's like a whole technique to it.
Speaker 3: Oh, wow.
Speaker 4: Which is something that I feel like. It's not a lot of people know, but it's actually like a, it's a hard skill. Like it definitely takes a lot of practice. And then we would like connect hoses and we put on like full turnouts and stuff like that. And just that experience is like being like fully immersed in like what it's like.
All of the firefighters were great. And like, they just like supported us and I don't know, it just pushed me in the direction even more so than I already. Benin.
Speaker 3: That's very cool. Is, is there really a pole
Speaker 4: in a fire station, and did you get to go down the pole? Some stations still have poles, but some don't, so it just depends on what station you're at.
Got it. How about Lake Oswego? Do we have poles here?
Speaker 5: Yeah, we have a pole at 214, and I think a couple of the other ones have them, but there's one at the downtown station, and you can go down it.
Speaker 3: Very cool. And you've had a little bit more time with the [00:05:00] mentor program and your mentor is actually Don Johnson, the chief of the fire department.
You know, he's your mentor. So what kind of activities have you been doing with him? I
Speaker 5: started off pretty simple, like just getting lunch, talking about like routes there are, because there's just so many ways you can become a firefighter. And the big trip we went on was we went down to Chemeketa Community College and they have a very good, like, dialed in FIRE program.
And he introduced me to the head EMS director and head FIRE director and I got tossed into a class and it was super fun.
Speaker 3: Oh, wow. That's amazing. Now, is that a direction you think you'd be going?
Speaker 5: Oh, definitely. Yeah, I'm planning on applying for next year.
Speaker 3: That's great. I know that firefighting is super physically and mentally demanding, as you were just saying, with even being able to throw this ladder.
You know, how, how do you think working with a mentor can help navigate those type of challenges?
Speaker 4: I think they can just prepare you for like what the reality is actually gonna be. Like I know with Chris, my mentor, [00:06:00] Chris Artman, She said that I might do like some trainings with the team just to see like what it's like, gain the skills or just like know what I need to be successful in the field.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and Chris is the assistant chief of fire here in Lake Oswego. So really, if you if you think about this program, Probably because it's new, but I mean, we got the chief of fire, the assistant chief of fire, actually mentoring our students, which, you know, I just don't think you could get anywhere but Lake Oswego.
So I just want to put a huge shout out to them for giving up their time and energy and making sure that they're helping our students. And actually, this was their idea to do this. So I mean, they, they are so amazing. What Aiden, of that question? How do you think working with a mentor can help you navigate those challenges as you begin to, you know, Start trying to do this type of thing.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it's really nice just to have somebody to like spitball ideas of. You can, if you're like, hey, do you think I should write an email to him? Do you think I should ask her about [00:07:00] joining their program? And stuff like that. It's really nice to just Be like, hey, what do I do? And then just have somebody who's been through the whole thing like thousands of times.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think mentorship is so important for every kind of position you're going to do. I know even for myself, I have numerous mentors I call all the time that I just couldn't even get through a lot of the challenges I have without asking other people who've been there and walked those shoes before me.
So if you guys could both go back to like this idea of when you first said, like, this is really what I want to do, you know, wow, this is the job for me. Can you remember when that was? And tell me a little bit about it.
Speaker 5: Yeah. So like I said, we go, we had to take the test that gave you four letters to like describe yourself.
I forgot what it was called, but I got four letters and it gave me my like list of jobs that were good for me. And. Everybody around me was like, Oh, I got a doctor. I got a lawyer. I got a fighter pilot or some crazy like stuff like that. And I was like, Oh, I got a construction [00:08:00] worker. And then the second one was firefighter.
And I was like, I was like, Oh, that's super cool. And that convinced me to go ask my dad about it. My dad doesn't work in fire, but he, he works with firefighters sometimes. And he was like, yeah, I've never met anybody who's more enthusiastic about their job. And he's like, you just got to like look into it.
And I started meeting people and kind of just went from there.
Speaker 4: All right, how about you, Vi? Well, my interest in it kind of like started during COVID. I'd been really interested in just helping people even since I was a kid, like I wanted to be a doctor for a while, then I wanted to be a cop. So I've kind of gone through like all of the stages, but this is the one that stuck and it's just like the more I learned about it, the more interested I was.
And I mean, it's a dangerous job, but the fear factor wasn't really there for me. It was just more like anticipation and excitement.
Speaker 3: Oh, okay. And is there something that you've learned that you're really surprised about that you didn't really expect [00:09:00] that firefighting would be about? Like, I've already just learned about the throwing of the ladder thing.
Oh, yeah. The only thing is that when you were learning, you were like oh my gosh, I did not think that was something I'd need to know.
Speaker 5: It's so community based. Like, everything they do is about the community. They're out all the time, and even when they're getting groceries, they're giving stickers out to kids who are like, oh my gosh, they're the firefighters.
Everything they do is for the community. That's just such a bigger part of the job than people think.
Speaker 3: In the camps that you all took, was there, like, a hands on emergency response training that happened? Or did you have to learn CPR, first aid? What other things did you learn in the training?
Speaker 4: Well, we did, like, a lot of different things.
Like, each day had, like, a different focus. So, one of the days we climbed the 100 foot ladder and, like, cut a car apart, which was probably, like, one of my favorite days. And, On the last day we had like a huge group activity and we were basically like two different teams and we had different jobs and at what station were we at?
Speaker 5: 210. At [00:10:00] 210
Speaker 4: they have like basically like a building for drills and so we basically like did one of the Drills, and so we would take the hose all the way up the building But it's like a very specific way in which you need to do it and you guys have to talk to each other a lot And it's like a lot of teamwork and stuff like that and then like the other team would be throwing ladders outside and like doing CPR on a dummy and you'd like have to go in and like Get a dummy and like it was really cool and engaging and it felt like the realist situation that we could be in and that was like Very appealing.
It was a lot of fun.
Speaker 3: That sounds so cool. I just don't remember that kind of opportunity when I was your age, but I think that's great that you both got to do that. And that actually brings me to my next question, which I'm curious about, is I think that fire service is all about teamwork and leadership.
And so how has this program helped you develop those skills? Or how do you anticipate this program helping you build those skills?
Speaker 5: I kind of got lucky and I got sent out a They sent [00:11:00] something out to all the fire camp kids asking if they wanted to be on, like, a, a South Shore fire station task force because they're trying to build a new one, and I got placed on it, and I got to work with tons of people all around the community, and I think that, like, It helped a ton with just learning how to talk to people and collaboration and teamwork skills.
Speaker 4: At the camp, watching how they interact with each other was good too. Cause you know, there's always like, we were put in teams a lot, so there was a lot of friendly competition and stuff like that. But like, When we weren't doing anything like the way in which they interact with each other and like make jokes like it shows how close and like how good their relationships are I mean because there's like a certain amount of trust that you have to have with these people because you know it's a dangerous job but I think that creates like closer bonds in a sense.
Speaker 3: Yeah I mean they really do put their lives in someone else's hands so you do have to be quite close to make sure that you feel [00:12:00] safe and that you're protected and that you feel safe. Yeah, I mean, I can see why you'd be very close and how teamwork would be important. So what do you think is the best piece of advice that you've received so far from your mentor?
Speaker 4: Okay, I have known Chris for a fair amount of time, like two years I think at this point, because she was the one that actually kind of brought me into like LO Fire as a whole. She took me on like a, like a bunch of station tours one day, like I got to go around all the stations and do like different activities at each station.
And I think one of the things that What's key for her is just like being a woman in the industry is definitely more of a challenge. It can be more physically demanding and mentally like there's not as many women as there is men. So it's just like fight through the adversity if there is any. And that's in
Speaker 3: a lot of powerful roles I would say also.
So it's it's good to have other female mentors that can help you navigate that. How about you Aiden?
Speaker 5: I think Chief Johnson said something [00:13:00] on, I think it was the first lunch we had and it was, it just really resonated with me and it was about How, if you're interested in something, you have to jump in head first and act like it's like your only opportunity at it.
And if it's not for you, then it's okay to like turn around and try something else. But just really giving it all you got goes a long way.
Speaker 3: That's great advice too. I always enjoy talking to Don. He is a wealth of knowledge for sure on a lot of different topics.
Speaker 5: Totally.
Speaker 3: So, for students who might be interested in being firefighters, what kind of advice would you all have for
Speaker 4: them?
I'd say go to a station, start talking to firefighters, because I haven't met like a single like mean firefighter, just like in a bad mood firefighter. Like they're all just really nice and they're all like so willing to tell you and talk to you about it. Like if you're interested in it, like they'll make time for you.
Go to a station, like, ask about it, try and schedule a tour, something like that, and then just, that's how I did it, and you just become more immersed. Can you
Speaker 3: just, you can just walk up to the [00:14:00] firefighter door and knock on it, like, can I have a tour? I didn't even know you could do that. I
Speaker 5: mean, they're all so friendly.
You could, you could totally do that at any station. You could also sign up for something like the fire camp or the mentor program, like anything like that where it just gets you meeting people. I think that's going to help a ton.
Speaker 3: So the fire camps are during the summer and you said that they're three days.
Is that? Are there other fire camps around the area?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I did the Portland Metro and Tualatin Fire Camp. It was the girls camp. And the two camps are really different because the first one there were like 50 girls and like we were all split into groups and it was like on a much bigger scale because they've been doing it for three or four years.
So they have like things dialed in. It was Ella's first time doing the camp, but I kind of liked that it was smaller. It was more like one on one. Mentoring I guess.
Speaker 3: Mm hmm. How about you Aiden? Have you done any other camps?
Speaker 5: No, I actually just did the LO fire camp and that was enough for me to be like, [00:15:00] wow, like this is
Speaker 3: This is your thing very cool before we wrap up any final thoughts or shout outs to your mentors or What am I not asking you that you're like, I really wish she would have asked me that question
Speaker 5: Needs to be a shout out for the whole, like, Oswego Fire Department.
I mean, every single person there is invested in helping people, and they're invested in the people around them, and if you go up to any person there, they would be more than happy to help you. So, they deserve one shout out for sure.
Speaker 4: I totally agree with Aiden, and I just want to give, like, a big shout out to Chris, because since day one, like, she saw me touring a station, and then she immediately was like, Oh, like, I'd love to help you get more involved.
Like, she immediately took the first step, and that's helped me, like, get so much more, like, confident in the fact that this is what I want to do for a job. And she's made so many opportunities for me and tried to involve me in so much stuff that I just, I really appreciate her.
Speaker 3: That's great. [00:16:00] Huge shout outs to the whole fire department.
Thank you very much from the school for taking on our Students and helping them explore their not only their future plans, but to really trying to get them involved with those great opportunities So, thank you so much. And that's that's all I have for you guys. So thanks so much for being here You were fantastic and I cannot wait to see where you land in your careers and make sure you stay in touch Thank you.
for
Speaker 5: having us
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. Bye bye. This has been such a great conversation. My brother in law is a fire captain down in Southern California and he started off in a mentor program way back when and it led to an amazing career for him and I'm, I'm really excited for Aiden and Vi and to see where your futures go.
Now let's talk about something else that's on fire, and that is our calendar for April. There is a lot happening in our schools and community. Jen, let's get started.
Speaker 3: Yes, Mary Kay. Way to bring the fire into the conversation. [00:17:00] Yeah, grab your calendars, take notes, because here's a few things to look forward to, and there's a lot of them, as always.
We have the fourth annual Lake Oswego Sustainability Resource Fair. That's going to happen on Sunday, April 6th. from 11 to 2 at the new, brand new River Grove Elementary School. We're very excited to get people in that school and see how amazing it is. It's free to everyone and there's activities for all types of ages.
And you're going to learn practical ways to protect the environment, save money and live well. You also get to do hands on activities and then connect with some local sustainability groups. You know, one of the things last year, they actually let you drive. electric cars in the parking lot, which I thought was pretty fun.
Especially if you don't have one, because man, they have some power to them. I know we're
Speaker 2: going to have fire trucks in the parking lot this year, so people will learn about fire safety. Oh, very cool. Weaving that back in. Very
Speaker 3: cool. Part of the Sustainability Fair is also something that's called Shifting Gears and Gifting Gears event.
[00:18:00] And that's a free sporting gear exchange, which is just fantastic for our kids to get that used, I will say used. Sporting equipment, which as we all know our kids use and gently use it and then they grow and they can't use it anymore So it's good to give it to someone else So we have our donation days on april 4th from 12 to 6 and saturday april 5th from 9 to 10 three.
And that's in the River Grove Elementary undercover area. And you can donate gently used bikes, helmets, sporting gear lacrosse sticks, anything that you have in your garage, you would like to have another student use. That'd be fantastic. And then shopping is going to be on Sunday, April 6th from 11 to two in the River Grove Elementary gymnasium.
So come pick out some free gently used. Sporting gear. We also have LSD cares. They're presenting what is disordered eating, and that's really cultivating a healthy relationship with your food and body image. So that's gonna be on Tuesday, [00:19:00] April 8th from 7 to 8 30. And that's in the Lake Grove Elementary.
library. That's going to be featuring Dr. Julie O'Toole from Cartini Clinic. And disordered eating is a term that many aren't familiar with, but it exists on a spectrum between typical eating habits and eating disorders. So learn how to recognize signs and support loved ones. This workshop will shed light on the seriousness of disordered eating, fostering a more compassionate understanding, and empowering individuals to seek support and cultivate a healthier relationship with food and, of course, body image.
Then we have the High School Career Night and Job Fair, and that's April 9th, 6 o'clock to 8 o'clock in the Lakeridge High School Cafeteria. And that we have over 70 businesses there. We have trade schools, colleges, people with summer job opportunities, volunteer opportunities. And it's a bonus that students can earn their Curlies or their Career Related Learning Experience credit.
And for those of you who do not know, you need that to graduate, [00:20:00] so make sure you show up. The almighty Curlie. Get that done as soon as you can. Brings back some interesting thoughts from being a high school principal. We also have Empty Bowls at Lakeridge High School. This is one of my favorite events that Mr.
Halley started over in the ceramics department at Lakeridge. It's Thursday, April 10th from 430 to 630. And it's in the ceramics room. And you can support local hunger relief by purchasing a handcrafted ceramic bowl. So our kids make tons of these bowls and they're beautiful. And each purchase includes a free scoop of ice cream.
So you can get some ice cream in your beautiful bowl. You get to take the bowl home and all of that money that they raise really supports local hunger. So it's a fantastic event, I think. Everyone should be there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, if you go, have the opportunity to go into Jen's office, you will see a lot of those bowls on her shelves.
You've supported the event
Speaker 3: for years. Yes, I have. I, I love it. And the ceramics program at [00:21:00] both of our high schools is so fantastic and anybody who has not seen my bowls should come by my office just to see them because Yes. Our kids do just remarkable work. They're impressive.
Speaker 2: Well, what a lineup of events.
Like I said, there is a lot happening and I think everything that you just described is happening in a matter of a week.
Speaker 3: That's how it always feels around here. Everything is like that.
Speaker 2: We don't want to do anything right after spring break, but we'll do it the week after that and get it in. And that's not even counting all the amazing activities that our students are doing with extracurriculars that spring brings us.
And speaking of extracurricular activities, next on this podcast, we're going to have the opportunity to talk to some of our students who are participating in newer sports for us, namely bowling. Really looking forward to that conversation.
Speaker 3: Yes, I am as well. And until next time, keep exploring and stay engaged.
Class dismissed. [00:22:00]
Speaker: We hope you found this episode informative and helpful. While our discussions are general, we understand each family's experience is unique. If you have specific questions about your child, please contact your school principal. To learn more about the topics we discussed, Ask a question or share ideas for future episodes, please visit LOSDSchools.
org. And remember to like and follow us wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you for engaging with Learning in Lake Oswego. We appreciate your support and look forward to having you with us for our next episode.