Piner High students see helicopter landing, learn CPR in career exploration program
A bright red emergency medical response helicopter descended from clear Santa Rosa skies Thursday, dropping slowly in front of a group of students in the grassy baseball fields of Piner High School.

About 20 juniors and seniors watched ― some pulled out their cellphones to take pictures. They had just completed CPR training with local American Medical Response personnel in their math class.

The experience was part of Sonoma Core, a program led by the nonprofit Career Technical Education Foundation Sonoma County, which helps students prepare for different career paths after high school. Similar classes are taught at Casa Grande High School in Petaluma.

The purpose

“It’s an opportunity for career exploration and launching into the world when they graduate high school and excitement for what’s next, whether that’s college or a career,” said Leslie Simmons, the nonprofit’s vice president of impact and investments.

“It’s all about engaging them,” Simmons said. The Sonoma County nonprofit was formed in 2014 to help students prepare for college and entry into the workforce.

At the end of the school year, many will receive opportunities to do yearlong paid internships with companies, including American Medical Response, depending on which career fields they are interested in.

The program offers a “pipeline toward the workforce,” said KT McNulty, regional director of American Medical Response, which contracts with Redcom, the emergency dispatch system that responds to 911 calls in the county.

AMR will take on 10 interns, five from each school, this year. They will also pay for interns to attend SRJC courses and EMT school.

McNulty said she heard about Sonoma Core when they did a presentation for Leadership Santa Rosa, and she saw a great opportunity to reach youth.

Among the activities this year:

• The students have taken field trips to Keysight Technologies, a Santa Rosa-based tech company, and Hansel Auto Group, a Santa Rosa car dealership, to learn about career opportunities.
• They’ve built resumes, created LinkedIn pages and will soon learn interview skills to prepare for the one-year gap internship.
• Many students didn’t even know these industries even existed so “it’s been an eye-opening,” for students, said Donna Fernandez, who teaches a course on statistics for social justice.

What the students think

• Jayden Rincon, 18, was one of the seniors watching the helicopter with awe. The teen said he’s interested in “anything aviation” as a career after graduation. The career readiness class has been “eye-opening,” he said. And after learning about AMR’s program Thursday, Jayden said flying for medical purposes was something he might be interested in as a career.

• Two friends, Kaylie Nuth, 16, and Ivette Gonzales, 17, both juniors, said they are both interested in the medical field, but the class made them realize they don’t necessarily want to deal with work as traumatic as what AMR workers have to deal with. But the yearlong program has “prepared us to figure out what we want to study so you’re not just sitting around during high school not knowing,” Kaylie said.

• Max McCloud, 17, said she sees the career exploration classes as a fun way to learn what students might truly might be passionate about. The program has led her to think about applying for the one-year internship at Costeaux French Bakery in Healdsburg, where she could see herself enjoying factory baking. “It’s important because when we get out of high school it’s going to be hard for us to find a job, and I think they’re setting us up for the future” Max said.