On Saturday, February 8th, high school firefighter cadets from Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s County attended SkillsUSA at the St. Leonard Volunteer Fire Department. SkillsUSA contest evaluates the contestants preparation for fire fighting careers through hands on skill demonstrations and both written and oral presentations. The students must submit a resume, take a written test, answer questions from an interview panel. Hands-on testing include tying specific knots, donning their firefighter gear and SCBA within two minutes then competing an obstacle course which consisted of a stair climb, hose drag and pull, tool carry, ladder raise and extension, crawling through a confined space and finally dragging a victim. One of our junior members, Darryl Black, was unanimously voted by his classmates to attend the competition, along with two other classmates, Jeb Hayden of Seventh District VFD Co 5 and Devon Bean of Second District VFD Co 6. Although Darryl did not finish within the top three, the competition was tough and he scored very well. We are very fortunate to have people like Darryl Black amongst our up and coming members.

If you’re in high school and interested in having a chance to participate in SkillsUSA, contact us today. We’re always looking for new people to bolster our membership.