If you’d asked Otis Royer year ago what he planned to do after graduating high school, the 16-year-old junior wouldn’t have had an answer.
But that was before Chapel Hill High School opened its new Firefighting Academy in August.
The academy allows students from across the district to earn a firefighting certification, along with certification as an Emergency Medical Technician their senior year, to become eligible for employment as firefighters right after graduation.
“This class is really awesome,” said Royer, one of 26 cadets in the program. “To be honest, after high school, I really didn’t know what I was going to do. This is something that I’ve become really passionate about. I can really see myself doing this long into the future.”