McKeesport firefighters donate equipment to new protective services program

The city firefighters met students in McKeesport Area High School’s new class on Wednesday.

The McKeesport Fire Department donated equipment on Wednesday to the newly created McKeesport Area School District Protective Services program.

McKeesport Fire Chief Kevin Kovach, school district Superintendent Don MacFann, and McKeesport Mayor Thomas Maglicco came together at McKeesport Area High School on Wednesday to check out the new program and meet the students. Although the fire department donated several pieces of used equipment to the new program, their visit was also meant to celebrate the official start of the Protective Services class.

The Protective Services program falls under the McKeesport Area Career and Technology Center, taught by Dr. Shannon Wintruba.

According to Kovach, who is also a school board director, the program was started thanks to school board Directors Matthew Holtzman and Jason Pavlecic.

Kovach added that Dr. Jamie Lusebrink, the director of career and technical education, has also helped bring the program to fruition.

“The idea came from having trouble filling spots like police,” Kovach said. “And we wanted to give kids another option. College isn’t for everybody. We already have some great programs here and we just wanted to expand on that. So now we’ll be able to produce firefighters, police, and EMS who are graduating from school, and they’ll be ready to take their certification tests, hopefully.”

Some of the equipment the department donated to the program include a generator, hoses and other hydraulic equipment. Kovach said that he’s working on involving other municipalities within the school district so they can donate equipment as well.

Holtzman, a McKeesport native, said he has worked for the McKeesport Fire Department for over 20 years.

“We want students from our high school and from our community to patrol our streets,” Holtzman said. “Creating a civil service pathway for people from our school district or from our area to become police officers and firefighters and EMTs, I think, is great for the community.

“I’ve lived here my whole life, and I’ve been a McKeesport firefighter for 25 years. When I get out of the fire truck, to this day, people know me right away, before I even say anything, they ask, ‘Holtz, what’s going on?’ because they automatically feel more comfortable. That’s a big part of what we do when we arrive at a scene, just make everybody calm down and feel comfortable.”

Holtzman on Wednesday suggested to Maglicco that the city could collaborate with the district to create a pathway that would make it easier for students to become firefighters.

During their visit to the high school, Kovach and other firefighters fielded questions from the students. In every answer the firefighters gave, they highlighted the importance of their jobs.

Lusebrink said that leading the career and technology center and the protective services program is special to her due to knowing many of the students for years.

“I’ve had some of these students since they were in kindergarten, so it’s kind of very nice to see them grow up and look forward to careers and getting ready for what they want to do after graduation,” Lusebrink said.

Wintruba said that the program has been a success for students so far and is excited to see what comes next.

“The kids are super excited,” Wintruba said. “We have a pretty big group, as you can see, and have another group starting in a couple of weeks. So I think there’s a lot of interest in this program and excitement behind it. I’m pretty excited.”

Wintruba noted that their main goal is to make sure that students can obtain certifications through the program, so they have a head start on a career when they graduate from high school.

“We’ll cover criminal justice, which includes law enforcement, courts, corrections, and Homeland Security,” Wintruba said. “We’ll cover emergency medical. So they’ll have an opportunity to get certified as an EMT, and then they will do firefighting as well as emergency management.”

After talking to students and presenting the new equipment, the firefighters treated the students to a pizza party.