Blog 21: Mentorship

Literal

• Mentorship Log
• Justin Cunningham (Firefighter) - Station 166 in the City of El Monte

Interpretive

• The most important thing that I gained from doing my mentorship at station 166 in the City of El Monte was being able to learn about the fire service from doing hands on activities with other firefighters and explorers.  From attending an explorers meeting every weekend I was able to learn about the positive and negative aspects of the job. The job is stressful, but at the same time rewarding. From being constantly exposed to the fire service I've found that this is a career that would truly enjoy.

Applied

• This experience has helped me finalize my best answer by learning about its importance from the other firefighters. I also learned about my second answer from constantly having to check my equipment prior to the other explorers and I partaking in any activities. My mentorship as an explorer even effected my final answer because I got it from my 3rd interview with firefighter Abadie, who I came in contact with because of the explorers program. Everyhing that I've done and all the people that I've met have all helped me answer my essential question. 

Blog 11: Mentorship 10 Hours

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?

 I am currently doing my mentorship at fire station 166 in the City of El Monte. The address is:

3615 Santa Anita Avenue
El Monte, CA 91731

2.   Who is your contact?

 My contact is the explorer post adviser. His name is FireFighter Cunningham and also works at station 166 were I'm doing my mentorship.

3.   How many total hours have you done (total hours should be reflected in your mentorship log located on the right hand side of your blog like your WB)?   

 So far I have completed 58 hours of service learning at my stations. These hours reflect my time spent at the station since the begging of the summer when I first started attending the explore program.

4.   Summarize the 10 hours of service you did.

The first 10 hours that I have logged onto my mentorship log were spent basically getting introduced into the explorer programs and getting debriefed on what's expected of me as an L.A. County Explorer. I also partook in physical training the days I completed the hours and learned about the different types of fire trucks that the station has.


5.   Email your house teacher the name of your contact and their phone number confirming who they should call to verify it.  

DONE.

Blog 2: Summer Mentorship

Literal:  

1. Summer log (click link below):

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0oI3u6bTHPVSFhQQkkzdXBmSFE/edit

2. Firefighter Cunningham / Cell: (310)866-1395

3. Some questions that were raised because of this experience include:

• Realistically speaking, what is the youngest age that a person can get hired by a fire department in these competitive times?  
• What activities can I take part in that would help improve my chances of becoming a firefighter?
• How vast are the topics which firefighters are required to learn about? 
• Are there different types of fire academies? If so, what are they?

Interpretive:

4.  Through completing this assignment I have gained a different view towards the fire department. At first I thought that all firefighters did was extinguish flames and save cats from trees, but now I know that they do much more than that. They help provide care to the people of their community by responding to all sorts of calls, some more severe than others. My respect for the department has also grown because I now have a deeper understanding of what it actually takes to work for them. It takes a lot of will power, dedication, and hard work to be part of the department, nothing near to what I had originally expected. Overall, this experience has helped open my eyes and see that becoming a firefighter will not be a walk in the park. 

  

Applied
    

5. This assignment helped me choose my topic (firefighting) because I now know that this field truly interest me. I found that firefighters learn about most of the things that surround us. I like being able to apply my learning to the real world, an example being roofs. On my first day at the explorers program I learned that you can tell a lot about how a home is designed by just observing its roof. I also enjoyed being able to learn and use different types of tools that may seem alien like to others. An example being when I first used a self contained breathing apparatus. This piece of equipment helps firefighters breath in burning buildings. I really like how I not only got to learn how to use this tool, but I also received information regarding all the little parts that make this equipment one. It is the little things that I obtained from completing this assignment that helped me choose my topic.