High school is the time where students try to decide to what they want to do when they grow up and start living off their own money.

One career that seems too far out of reach for some people is law enforcement and other 911 related services. But, there are actually quite a few options for breaking into the industry.

In Renton there are currently two programs that can help with that, one for future police officers, the other for future firefighters.

The program for future police is called Renton Police Teen Academy. The program takes place this year from July 15th-19th. It only lasts the one week and teaches the teens involved about the Renton police department and the requirements to become a police officer.

The program is completely free. The teens must be at Renton High School at 8:30am via transportation that they provide. Each day the session ends at 12:30pm. Throughout the day the students, depending on the day, will either stay at Renton High or take a field trip to an offsite location for some form of training.

Not only is this a great opportunity to lean it also completes 20 hour of community service required to graduate high school. To apply the teen must live in the Renton area and be enrolled in school.

Another emergency service program for teens is called Zone Three Fire Explorers. This program is for teens that might want to become firefighters in the future. The program goes all year long and once the teen in enrolled they can stay enrolled until they are 20.

Applications are accepted in January, June, and September. Before the teen applies they must attend two successive informational meetings during the month of their application. After completing this they can submit their application. It must be approved before they become apart of the program.

This program is a good way to make friends that are interested in the same career while preparing to go almost directly into the firefighting industry. Some students may not know, but there are ways to start training for future emergency services careers as a teen. Get started today!

For more information on Renton Police Teen Academy go to:
https://rentonwa.gov/city_hall/police/administrative_services/teen_academy

For more information on Zone Three Fire Explorers: https://www.zone3explorers.com/