HUDSON, Fla. — Trey Johnson knows exactly who he wants to be.
"I want to be a firefighter," Trey says with a big smile.
He is in the right place.
The Fivay High senior is a star at the school's Fire Science Academy, an on-campus fire station staffed by active bay area firefighters.
"This gives us a better opportunity going into the real world," Trey says.
There is nothing else like it in Pasco County.
State leaders recently praised the program for its innovation and dedication to community.
Fivay is a forward-thinking school when it comes to curriculum. It also offers intensive study in culinary and criminal justice.
On this day the small class of future firefighters is learning how to work the high-pressure water hose and smash through a locked door.
Students will be well on their way to certification after completing the program, with full-time firefighter and EMT jobs possible within six to eight months of graduation.
Fivay Principal Jason Joens says programs like this are all about preparing kids for the rest of their lives.
"If we can get these kids focused on what they want to do post-secondary, and get that energy going as ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth graders, this will project them and propel them well beyond high school," says Joens.
