Gavin Abundis watched firefighter Adrian Chairez demonstrate how to rappel down buildings using pulleys and harnesses. “You’ve probably seen it in the movies, like in Mission: Impossible,” Chairez joked one winter day as he got ready to step off a tower. “We get to do that for real.”
Abundis, who was a senior at Aptos High School in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District, has a friend whose home was destroyed by a lightning-sparked fire a few years ago. He said it’s common in California to know someone affected by wildfires, especially as they grow more frequent and intense due to the climate crisis. This drew him to the fire technology class and could shape his future career.
“Knowing I can do something to help my community definitely motivates me to pursue this path,” Abundis said.
Interest in the course has surged in recent years. The Santa Cruz County Office of Education, which runs the class with the Watsonville Fire Department, doubled the number of classes from two to four this school year. “We used to have to recruit students in schools,” said Watsonville Fire Chief Rudy Lopez Sr. “Now they sign up on their own.”
As the climate crisis changes the environment and economy, there’s a growing need for jobs that help prepare for, respond to, and reduce damage from fires, floods, and other natural disasters. Schools and community colleges are exploring how to prepare students for careers in fields like fire science, watershed protection, ecosystem restoration, forestry management, and search and rescue. In many cases, student interest is driving these new courses—surveys show younger generations are more environmentally aware and more likely to support climate action.
Fire Chief Rudy Lopez Sr. was pictured speaking with students during a Fire Youth Academy class at a Watsonville fire station on January 30, 2025.
Kate Kreamer, executive director of Advance CTE, a nonprofit that supports career and technical education leaders, noted that more districts are offering climate-related CTE courses. However, tracking exact numbers is difficult because the topic is politicized and course names vary by school, district, and state. One example of growth is a “resiliency careers in forestry” program at five California community colleges. It trains students to become foresters, fire program managers, and log truck drivers, and has grown from 37 students at its launch three years ago to about 700 today, according to the Foundation for California Community Colleges.
Students in Santa Cruz’s year-long fire science course appreciate its hands-on nature. They practice putting on and taking off over 70 pounds of gear in under 90 seconds, watch water cannons blast from fire engines, and handle 200-foot-long water hoses. They also learn firefighting terms, explore job opportunities, and study required certifications. The course introduces students to firefighting careers at a time when California and other regions face significant shortages. Entry-level firefighting jobs in the state pay between about $50,000 and $100,000 per year, according to California Professional Firefighters.
Charlotte Morgan, a soft-spoken senior from Aptos, said she took the class because of her concern about the climate crisis: “Growing up in Santa Cruz, we spend so much time outdoors and care deeply about it. I want to protect that.” Her friend Bellamy Breen agreed.She is interested in working on water conservation issues. “With climate change, there are more droughts and saltwater intrusion. Given all the agriculture here, it’s very important,” she said.
Former President Joe Biden supported initiatives like the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which directed billions of federal dollars toward jobs addressing the climate crisis. These included clean energy manufacturing, water infrastructure projects, and wildfire prevention and preparedness efforts. Under Donald Trump, who has called climate change a hoax, these initiatives have been quickly reversed. In recent months, the federal government has laid off hundreds of climate scientists, stopped research funding, and canceled 400 grants meant to help communities prepare for more extreme weather.
Yet, in communities affected by natural disasters, there is a demand for jobs that go beyond politics, even in conservative areas where the climate crisis is sometimes dismissed as false science.
John Gossett, president of Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College in North Carolina, said that after Hurricane Helene devastated his region last year, college presidents in Mississippi and Louisiana who had experienced catastrophic natural disasters warned him to expect a 40% to 50% drop in enrollment. However, while enrollment in several programs has remained steady, courses in fields that were highly visible during the hurricane—such as fire and rescue, EMT and paramedic training, and nursing—have attracted more student interest.
Police officers played a significant role during the disaster, taking part in search and rescue missions and directing traffic. Gossett said the college had to double its basic law enforcement training cohorts from two to four this semester due to unexpected demand. It also brought back a course in geomatics, or land surveying, and added a class in agri-permaculture, an approach to land management that mimics natural ecosystems in rebuilding efforts. The college’s construction program now offers additional environmentally friendly certifications, including in green building and solar technology.
Gossett sees a strong connection between these in-demand courses and the region’s economic development, even though course descriptions do not mention climate change. “It’s in our mission, it’s what we do,” he said. “We’re trying to help people improve their lives, where they can earn more and have more options. And all of that is centered around workforce development.”
Southeastern Kentucky has also recently faced disasters, including catastrophic floods in 2021, 2022, and 2025 that resulted in numerous deaths, destroyed homes, and businesses and schools filled with mud. This region is served by Hazard Community and Technical College, which has 4,400 students across campuses in Central Appalachia. “You just can’t believe how much water there was—there was six feet of water in one of our buildings,” recalled its president, Jennifer Lindon.
She said the college is rethinking its course offerings to better respond to such disasters. Hazard offers annual firefighter training, but water rescue is becoming so crucial that the college is adding a swift water rescue component focused on saving people from fast-moving floods, available to first responders from across the state. Its construction classes are also evolving to…To better prepare for future storms, Hazard Community College now includes training on rebuilding homes on elevated ground to withstand high winds and flooding. Due to high demand, the college runs multiple construction courses at once, with an accelerated curriculum that completes in six weeks what used to take sixteen.
Lindon noted that Hazard’s heavy equipment and line worker classes have waiting lists as the community works on clearing debris and restoring infrastructure. In response to a flooded water treatment plant that left several counties without drinking water, the college is also developing a new course on water treatment systems. With the county constructing a new facility, Lindon highlighted that this will create numerous job opportunities.
She emphasized the need for long-term planning, stating, “It’s time to really sit down and think about how we plan for 10 years, 20 years, because I don’t think that these disasters are one-offs. What we thought was a 1,000-year flood has happened in three of the last five years. So it’s a different time for sure. Most of us all really love this area. We want to stay here, so we need to figure out how to better protect it.”
Other institutions are also reaching out to students early to spark interest in these careers. John Boyd, who leads Mayland Community College near hurricane-devastated Asheville, North Carolina, shared that his community is still recovering, and the college has seen enrollment drop as residents moved away. To address this, they hired a firefighter instructor to train local volunteer firefighters and engage K-12 students in regional career paths. The college is also building an environmental science center with exhibits to help children understand local environmental changes, such as how Hurricane Helene permanently altered riverbeds.
In this conservative area, climate change isn’t discussed. Boyd explained, “We’re a very, very conservative area here. We focus on what it is and what we do now, not how it got there.” The college is additionally training operators for heavy machinery like backhoes and bulldozers to clear storm debris, including downed trees that Boyd warned could become a significant fire hazard in the coming years.
Kreamer of Advance CTE noted that disaster-related education is part of a broader shift, with high schools nationwide updating courses in fields like construction, HVAC, fashion technology, and cooking to address climate challenges. Matt Siegelman of the Burning Glass Institute added that many traditional jobs now require knowledge of green technology, with sustainable materials and energy-efficient designs becoming more common in construction. While green jobs are growing at about 2% annually, traditional roles needing green skills are expanding even faster.
Kreamer also pointed out the need to overcome challenges such as better collaboration between education and industry, and between community colleges and K-12 schools. She stressed the importance of early career exposure, saying, “You can only do so much by reskilling. Adults have to look at the next generation as part of that pipeline strategy,” by introducing career options in elementary and middle school.
In firefighting, career opportunities vary by region, with rural areas often depending on volunteers and cities on paid professionals. Concerns about health risks for wildfire firefighters are also on the rise.California has seen over 6,500 wildfires in 2025 so far, making it one of the worst fire seasons on record. In Santa Cruz, the school district expects more than 110 students to finish the fire science program this year, up from 57 last year.
Students say the program teaches them not only how to fight fires but also important life skills like standing up for others, persevering, and staying positive. “It’s super-valuable life advice,” said Jack Widman, who was a senior during last winter’s class at the Watsonville fire station. Like his classmate Gavin Abundis, Widman is thinking about becoming a firefighter.
“Firefighting doesn’t solve climate change,” Abundis added, “but I feel I’m part of the solution.”
This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for their newsletter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about how US schools are preparing students for the growing threat of wildfires and floods with clear and direct answers
BeginnerLevel Questions
1 Why are schools suddenly focusing on wildfires and floods
Schools are responding to the fact that these disasters are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change They want students to be safe informed and prepared not scared
2 What does preparing students actually mean Does it mean fighting fires
No it doesnt mean students are fighting fires It means teaching them about the causes of these disasters what to do in an emergency and how to protect their communities through prevention and preparedness
3 What are schools doing to keep kids safe during a wildfire or flood
Schools are updating their emergency plans with specific protocols for these events This includes evacuation drills identifying safe shelter zones within the school and having clear communication plans to reunite students with their families
4 Are they adding new classes for this
Sometimes yes Many schools are integrating these topics into existing subjects like science geography and civics Some high schools offer specialized environmental science or emergency management courses
5 My child is anxious about climate change Will this make it worse
The goal is the opposite By giving students knowledge and a sense of agency schools aim to replace fear with empowerment They focus on practical solutions and resilience showing kids that there are things we can do
Advanced Practical Questions
6 What are some specific skills students are learning
Students might learn to
Analyze maps to understand local flood plains or fire risk
Interpret weather data and emergency alerts
Understand community evacuation routes
Design projects like rain gardens to reduce floodwater or create defensible space models for wildfires
7 Are there any realworld examples of this in action
Yes In California some schools have programs where students work with forest services on wildfire prevention In coastal states like Florida or Louisiana students participate in wetland restoration projects that act as natural flood barriers
8 Whats the biggest challenge schools face in implementing this
The main challenges are funding for new programs and materials finding time in an already packed curriculum and ensuring teachers have the proper training to teach these complex topics effectively
