{"id":619,"date":"2026-06-15T10:02:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T10:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanantoniomovingreport.com\/?p=619"},"modified":"2026-06-15T10:02:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T10:02:17","slug":"how-some-san-antonio-students-go-straight-out-of-high-school-and-into-the-fire-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanantoniomovingreport.com\/?p=619","title":{"rendered":"How some San Antonio students go straight out of high school and into the fire station"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

At only 18 years old, Maria Mu\u00f1oz could soon work as a professional firefighter after graduating from Edison High School this June.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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She went through Edison\u2019s firefighting academy in the San Antonio Independent School District. The fire academy falls under Edison\u2019s health and emergency medical services magnet program, offering a combination of work-based learning, accreditations and college credit opportunities.\u00a0It\u2019s the only program of its kind locally.<\/p>\n

For Mu\u00f1oz, the academy was way to fast-track into a career where she can \u201cbenefit others by saving lives and helping others when they\u2019re at their lowest.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But becoming a firefighter, whether students pick the traditional or accelerated route, can still be tricky.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey go through a whole bunch of different programs here because there\u2019s not like one firefighter certification,\u201d said Jeremy Guerrero, the college, career and military readiness coordinator at Edison.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a bunch of certifications stacked together.<\/p>\n

Cadets have to pass certification tests for EMT, hazmat awareness, hazmat operations and the Texas Commission on Fire Protection. Edison students take most of the health-related courses through the school\u2019s magnet program, arranging certification tests with corresponding agencies and covering the cost.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Edison has a comprehensive health and emergency services magnet program with certification paths for EMT, dental assistance, phlebotomy and more. The program expands almost every year, adding partnerships with local universities, emergency departments and potential employers. <\/p>\n

Serving around 1,300 students, the campus usually gets around 300 school choice applicants every year who want to enroll in one of Edison\u2019s various programs.<\/p>\n

But the fire academy, which launched about 10 years ago, is only open to 20 of Edison\u2019s most dedicated students (usually seniors) who\u2019ve taken the preliminary classes in health and emergency response.<\/p>\n

Edison partners with San Antonio College, which has its own fire academy,\u00a0to provide a 10-month course of the ins and outs of firefighting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Firefighting in high school<\/h4>\n

Cadets start their school days early. They get to school before everyone else, usually around 6:45 a.m. <\/p>\n

They get on a bus that takes them to the Alamo Colleges First Responders Academy on the outskirts of town, where they spend half of their day. Alongside fire cadets from the community college, Edison students learn about disaster response, fire management and fire science.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They practice putting on gear, which can weigh more than 100 pounds, and get hands-on experience managing controlled fires in the winter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cadets also have to meet certain physical requirements, like running a mile in less than 10 minutes, doing more than 50 consecutive push-ups and holding a plank for more than one minute.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meeting the physical requirements may have been the easiest part for Mu\u00f1oz, a decorated wrestler and cross-country runner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe gear you\u2019re wearing is not just gear. It holds in sweat. It\u2019s like a sauna, and it also carries a lot of weight,\u201d said Mu\u00f1oz.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are also constant tests to drill cadets on emergency management and response.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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After their half-day at the academy, cadets return to Edison for the rest of their school day: lunch, electives, and the other classes they need to finish basic high school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI only had\u00a0two core classes this year, and my other two classes were easy,\u201d said Mu\u00f1oz, who knocked out as many credits required for high school graduation as she could ahead of her senior year, allowing her to focus more on firefighting training.<\/p>\n

She also has some college credit under her belt. <\/p>\n

Because of the partnership with San Antonio College, which is part of the Alamo Colleges District, most Edison cadets will graduate with a year\u2019s worth of college credits and most of the credentials needed to become a firefighter.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard work, Mu\u00f1oz said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s challenging to get all the certifications by the end of high school, and some students still have to complete credits through San Antonio College or other tuition-based fire education programs.<\/p>\n

The path to career<\/h4>\n

To get ahead of the program, Mu\u00f1oz decided to get her EMT certification through Cordial Fire\/EMS Education before entering her senior year, spending $800 to take a four-month course last summer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The certification was twofold, making her a certified EMT technician and a certified CPR instructor. <\/p>\n

She\u2019s always been drawn toward community service, she said \u2014 most of her family works in the medical field.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Mu\u00f1oz originally wanted to be a police officer, even enrolling in Edison\u2019s law enforcement\/criminal justice program, she switched to firefighting because she thought she could help more people.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On top of the long hours and high expectations for the fire academy cadets, Mu\u00f1oz said the most challenging part of the program was learning the soft skills of team work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one truly understands what firefighters go through\u2026 they\u2019re going into live fire with gear,\u201d she said. \u201cYou have to be a team player.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the start of her year in the academy, fire instructors picked Mu\u00f1oz as squad captain, to set an example for the rest of her squad.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to keep my cadets in check,\u201d she recalled. <\/p>\n

While Edison\u2019s fire academy is a lot of work, it\u2019s also free, saving students time and thousands of dollars, ultimately shortening their path into the workforce.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In comparison, going through the Fire Academy at San Antonio College costs approximately $4,240.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At San Antonio Fire Department, a probationary firefighter makes $5,348 a month for the first 18 months on the job and gradually gets bumped up to around $6,000 a month after five years on the job.<\/p>\n

Mu\u00f1oz said she felt \u201clucky\u201d to have a program like Edison\u2019s, paying for student to get hands-on learning that \u201cnot many people do at a young age.\u201d <\/p>\n

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\u201cI just want to save lives,\u201d Mu\u00f1oz said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Becoming a firefighter straight out of high school? It’s possible with this firefighting magnet program in San Antonio ISD.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":618,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education"],"yoast_head":"\nHow some San Antonio students go straight out of high school and into the fire station - San Antonio moving report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sanantoniomovingreport.com\/?p=619\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How some San Antonio students go straight out of high school and into the fire station - San Antonio moving report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Becoming a firefighter straight out of high school? 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