When Franklin’s Firefighter Explorer Program Coordinator David Konstant developed the idea of creating a summer camp in February, he wanted to use it as an opportunity to get high schoolers interested in a different career path.
Across Williamson County, the number of firefighters and paramedics is dwindling as existing employees transition to other careers and few newcomers apply for the jobs.
“The fire services in the past five years has had a hard time recruiting. We've seen a large decline in applicants,” Konstant said.
The solution? A three-day summer camp geared toward 14-year-old to 18-year-old students in the Williamson County School District. Twenty-five students from rising freshmen to rising seniors applied for the camp, which took place from June 3-5.