ARCADIA, Fla. — Some students at DeSoto County High School are getting out of their comfort zone by taking a 911 Public Safety Telecommunicator (PST) Training Program.
Senior Marquez Angeles told Arcadia Community Correspondent Victoria Scott he enjoys going to it.
You can watch Victoria's full report here:
"We all get along so well and we just spend a lot of time learning about things that very few people can do," Angeles said.
Students practice being 911 dispatchers and prepare for a big state exam at the end of the year.
Teacher and former Sarasota Sheriff's Deputy Michael Davis said the program is already having a positive impact on the community.
"We are producing employees, or increasing the applicant pool for the sheriff's office," Davis told Scott. "We're currently communicating with everybody from Sarasota, Highlands, Hardy, Charlotte, and DeSoto [counties]."
Other seniors said there's a big need for more 911 dispatchers in DeSoto County.
"Obviously, not a lot of people want to be 911 dispatchers, but obviously we need them, especially here since our county is so small," said senior Evelyn Pineda.
Davis also told Scott the program forces students to stay calm under pressure.
"We put the pressure on," he said. "They fight through the pressure, and they're ultimately able to do something that's really good. That's ultimately what real-world emergency response is all about."
Senior Vanessa Morgan said the real-life scenarios help her in more ways than one.
"Now, I have to study a lot for the tests, for the quizzes," Morgan said. "Even for the scenarios, I have to figure out what I have to ask and how to ask it."
The class is growing in popularity. Davis said he had six students in the program at the end of last year and he has 20 this year.
