Making it as real as we can

Part of what makes a college education so great is the experiential learning provided throughout the program. For the Fire Inspection and Fire Safety Education program here at Fanshawe it was raised to the next level with our Mentorship Program.

3rd year students, in the last few months of their 3 years learning this profession started their

Mentorships on 6 local fire departments. The students spend up to two days a week on location with the Fire prevention staff learning, watching and even doing the role they have been preparing for. From inspecting a hoarders' home to learning the ins and outs of a municipal fire service, to working with property owners - it's all there for them to experience and make them the best prepared students and to become the best prepared professionals they can be.

The students are placed in large municipal fire services such as London Fire Department to mid-sized such as St Thomas Fire and Leamington down to smaller composite or volunteer departments such as Lambton County, Southwest-Oxford and Petrolia Fire - all very different and providing a variety of experiences.

On the right we have Marie with South-west Oxford Fire Service - about to head out on an industrial inspection

And on the left, Geoff helping with the St Thomas Fire Department Ice Water training during his placement.

And we don't stop with learning in the classroom - we continue to use all the resources we can to make the learning as 'on point' as possible.

Below we can see the 3rd year students in their Fire-5009 Fire Investigation using the College SimLab - a simulated one bedroom apartment to better understand the intricacies of performing a house fire investigation. Using the SimLab allows for a more hands on and visual learning experience to help make our students better fire investigators and able to investigate, determine and articulate a fire scene.

I've said it in other blog posts - you can never underestimate the value of real world learning and making it as relevant as possible for the students. Being a fire prevention officer is a complex and demanding career that demands a lot from it's professionals so there really is no better way to prepare our students than by making it as real as possible.

Till next post....and graduation!