LifeSupportM.org: Mentoring and Supporting the Next Generation of Firefighters
Pictured from Right to Left: Jeff Davidson, Chief (Retired) Mill Valley Fire Department, Instructor, SRJC Fire Academy, Co-Founder/Mentor, LifeSupportM.org; Nick Klimenko, SRJC Fire Academy, Class 99,Class Leader; Tyler Neiburger, SRJC Fire Academy, Class 99, Squad Leader; and Jeremiah Mahan, SRJC Fire Academy, Class 99 Assistant Class Leader.
LifeSupportM.org believes in helping people learn life skills and one great way to learn life skills is through education, especially hands-on education like that of the Fire Academy at the Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC).
Our LifeSupportM.org co-founder, Jeff Davidson, was a career firefighter and after retirement he has continued his fire service work at the SRJC Fire Academy. By teaching and mentoring at the SRJC, Jeff is able to pass along valuable life skills, technical lessons and information, fire industry history, and strong work ethic qualities to the next generations of firefighters.
Each semester the Fire Academy accepts up to 40 students into their Spring academy class which is a three and a half month, five day per week, intensive academy. Class time is an eight hour day and then homework, reading, quizzes, and physical training is another 3-4 hours per day. Class and squad leaders tack on an additional 1-2 hours for their leadership and organizational duties. It is a grueling program and the students often have to sacrifice other parts of their lives and careers to be able to attend.
Students come from a variety of backgrounds and locations across the country and some even commute 100 miles round trip each day to get to class. Some of the students have given up their full time jobs and moved back in with their parents and families in order to be able to afford their school costs and get support during their studies.
This Spring, which marked the 99th Fire Academy Class at the SRJC, the Class Leader, Nick Klimenko, Assistant Class Leader Jeremiah Mahan, and Squad Leaders Hugo Palmeira, Angelo Aviles, and Tyler Neiburger co-founded a scholarship fund to help future academy recruits.
Together they have a goal of raising $10,000 to support the next generation of young women and men firefighters that go through the SRJC Fire Academy Program.
LifeSupportM.org has sent a contribution and we are also happy to get the word out to the community to help the new recruits. Here is the link to the scholarship page and you can read Class Leader, Nick Klimenko’s message below and watch the great video introducing the scholarship as well.
Congrats for paying it forward SRJC Fire Academy Spring Intensive Class 99!
Pictured Right to Left:
Jeremiah Mahan, SRJC Fire Academy, Class 99 Assistant Class Leader; Nick Klimenko, SRJC Fire Academy, Class 99, Class Leader; and Tyler Neiburger, SRJC Fire Academy, Class 99, Squad Leader.
Class Leader, Nick Klimenko’s Message:
The scholarship started out as our idea to figure out how to pay it forward back to the community. I've been very fortunate because of the generosity of other people through scholarships. I enjoy going to school - I love learning and bettering myself and that is why I wanted to go into the fire service, because there is always something to learn about the industry, my colleagues, the community, and myself.
My fellow scholarship founders, Assistant Class Leader Jeremiah Mahan, and Squad Leaders Hugo Palmeira, Angelo Aviles, and Tyler Neiburger, have a similar educational drive and have a desire to be the best members of the fire service as possible. They are kind hearted, committed individuals. They want to help - and the scholarship is an extension of their care for the community. We all know what it is like to try to prioritize work life balance and fit our finances, families, and education into the mix.
With this scholarship we are looking for people from all walks of life who have a plan and are looking for leadership opportunities. We are also looking for a high work ethic, willingness to sacrifice self for others, and a love of educational learning and self development. But, most importantly, we are looking for recruits who have all these qualities but might have had to forgo their dream because of the money.
The Fire Service Industry has been known as a white male profession in the past. My co-founders and I can see that the culture is changing - and it is being recognized across many industries, including the fire service, that a good team is a diverse team. Diversity (both in seen qualities and unseen qualities) brings different perspectives, varied skill sets, unique positive attributes, and direct experience. In the fire service we are solving problems all the time and we need diverse critical thinkers who are non-judgmental, well spoken, want to continue to learn, and who want to work on self improvement within a team environment - all to serve the communities we live, work, and play in.
The 99th Scholarship is run through the Santa Rosa Junior College. We are hoping to fund three students for the upcoming 100th Fire Academy and then to have enough left over to seed the 101st academy scholarship. Your contributions matter - and we thank you for helping us fund the education of our next generation of firefighters!
Santa Rosa Junior College Fire Academy, Class 99, Educational Scholarship Program Video
