Forged by Fire

Some Triad high schoolers are getting on-the-job training for their future career.

This is the last installment of a special Real People, Real Stories series. These are student produce stories from WFDD's education program, Radio 101.

Amanda Whalen is a junior at Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem. She's also a Fire Explorer with the Winston-Salem, Forsyth County Fire Department. It's a volunteer program for teenagers under 18 who want to ultimately pursue this career.

Whalen is now the Captain of the Winston-Salem Fire Explorers. In her essay, she describes how this experience prepared her to handle a real life fire-incident. But according to Whalen, this experience is also making her a professional minority.
After graduation, Whalen plans to study Fire Science in college. She produced this story with assistance from Radio 101 Instructor Lopa Shah and WFDD senior producer Kathryn Mobley. WFDD's Education Initiative Coordinator is Greg Keener. Hear this story again Saturday, April 5 at 8:34 a.m. on WFDD.