It's 8:30 a.m. and the sun is already heating up the artificial turf at Banning High School's football field. Some 70 ninth- and 10th-graders line up on their stomachs for push-ups.
For some of these kids, the "push-up ready" pose looks like a cross between an aborted yoga position and a nap.
"Come on! Butts down, hips off the ground, shoulders over your hand!" barks Los Angeles Fire Capt. Eddie Marez.
"Down!"
"One, sir!" the sleepy students shout.
"Didn't say 'up' yet. Start all over!" Marez yells.
The students, dressed in blue T-shirts and shorts that say "LAFD Academy," try again in unison. Most students don't make it to 10.
The morning workout at this school in LA's Wilmington neighborhood is part of two new LAFD magnet programs. The department hopes to inspire future firefighters or emergency medical technicians — and boost diversity — in a department that remains 96.5 percent male and about 50 percent white.