By Tyler Dahlgren

Every story has a start.

Downtown Potter is relatively quiet on this wind-whipped Friday morning in October. School’s not in session, having wrapped up the first quarter the day before. Besides a few locals shooting the breeze outside of The Potter Sundry, where the famous Tin Roof Sundae was invented, the scene is comfortingly calm and plucked straight from a small town Nebraska calendar.

Then came the cadets. One by one, they roll down Front Street from either direction and park on the Potter Volunteer Fire Department’s west side. They spill inside and surround a large table in a multi-purposed conference room. PVFD public information officer Robert Hilpert slides me a water, and we’re off.

Every story has a start, and Kenzie Shoemaker is the one who first put the keys in the ignition. The junior approached Potter-Dix superintendent Chris Arent last spring with an idea for starting a fire cadet program. 

“My very best friend is from Ogallala, and he was on the department at Keystone Lemoyne as a cadet,” Shoemaker said. “He actually went and got his EMT this past year, and I think he’s back working as a full-time member now. So he kind of encouraged me to start one here. He thought I’d really like it, and he was right.”

Arent, who is friends with PVFD Fire Chief Mark Onstott, had already been in conversations about a potential job shadowing internship program. When Shoemaker approached him with the idea, he saw a golden opportunity. He also saw student initiative and ownership. There was no way the school was saying no.

“Kenzie really just went right to work on it, honestly,” said Arent. “She set up a meeting with the fire chief and they started hashing out the details and developing what the program would look like.”

Onstotter then approached the department and asked for feedback.

“Everybody on our end was on board,” Hilpert said. “Mark had to check with the rule board and the insurance company to make sure all bases were covered. In this day and age, liability is a big issue, so we wanted to make one-hundred percent sure it was okay to have them on the department as actual members able to do actual things. There was a lot of legwork.”

Shoemaker and Onstott composed a letter and sent it to the junior and senior classes at Potter-Dix. They organized an Open House and Shoemaker again played the part of kickstarter, doing everything she could to spread the word among her peers. Dru Weimer came to Potter-Dix from another district for his senior year, and even he received a text from Shoemaker this past summer.

“Kenzie said, ‘I think you would really like this and should look into it,’” Weimer said. “I said, ‘Great, how do I get signed up?’ She helped me with that, too, and I’m glad she did.”

When junior Kennedy Knoll read that initial letter, her curiosity peaked. She’d always wanted to be an EMT, and this was an opportunity for a big-time head start down that path.

“Helping people is what we all want to do,” Knoll said. “Especially in a small town, that’s the most important thing to a lot of us. That’s what caught everyone’s eye right away, the chance to help a lot of people in very serious situations.”

That’s the cool thing about small towns, Hilpert said. Service to the community is ingrained in these kids from an early age. Many of their fathers and grandfathers volunteered on the fire department. They grow up wanting to be just like their heroes.

“You see the fire trucks go by, hear the sirens and see the lights, and every little kid’s wish is to be on that fire truck someday,” Hilpert said. “This is an avenue for them to be exposed to it and actually get hands-on experience of what it’s like to be on the rescue unit. What a way to get your feet on the ground.”

The program is in its infancy stages, says Arent, but already it’s paying dividends. It’s been a mutually beneficial endeavor, a true partnership between the school and the fire department that’s helped both sides.

“It’s a joy having them around,” second-year firefighter Brandi Tallmage said of the five fire cadets. “It makes us take a step back from our normal. We’re in such a routine that we’re usually just go, go, go. This program has made us step back and look at it and be able to break it down and explain why we’re doing things. They ask questions that make us think. They have great input and keep us on our toes. They’ve done well.”

In rural areas, like the far reaches of Nebraska’s Panhandle, loss of population is a very real challenge. Arent said the main reason young people leave for bigger cities is the notion that places like Potter and Dix lack some of the same opportunities. It’s gratifying to show them that that isn’t always the case.

“This is a way to connect our students to the community and to show them that there are opportunities here,” he said. “For the fire department, it’s a chance to grow your own. Having that connection to the area is important. Even if they go away to school, there’s a chance they’ll come back because of that connection and that opportunity. That’s a big thing.”

For Potter-Dix, the fire cadet program is another pillar on the bridge they’ve been building between their schools and the communities surrounding them. It’s also a hands-on learning experience that their students likely won’t forget, though they’re cognizant of the types of calls the cadets are allowed to go out on.

“We’re careful not to expose them to too much or to overly traumatic situations,” Arent said. “With our proximity to the interstate, accidents can be pretty catastrophic, so we are mindful of that. The fire department has been gracious enough to allow me to have access to their emergency call system so that I can help monitor. The cadets are even able to go on calls during the school day, if it’s appropriate for them to do so.”

The cadets are only a few months into this adventure, but all five already know they’re on a memorable ride. The first ever class of Potter-Dix Fire Cadets, they’re proud to leave a legacy in a school they truly love.

“Everything in here is a memory, no matter what it is,” said Knoll. “That’s the most important thing. We’re creating memories over and over again with every meeting and every training. Everything is eye-opening, too. Getting to learn through all of these experiences, sitting on a fire truck for example, those are memories that we’ll hold for the rest of our lives.”

Weimer remembers being a little kid and totally captivated when the fire trucks would pass by. Back then, he didn’t have a total understanding of what the brave people inside of the trucks had to go through day in and day out to prepare themselves for those moments. Now, he does.

“One of the most eye-opening things for me was how much work really does go into being a firefighter or an EMS responder,” Weimer said. “I never really took into consideration all the training they go through and everything that goes into it. It’s a lot of work.”

Each of the five cadets has gained a new perspective.

“It’s a very difficult job,” Shoemaker said, “and I don’t think people understand that until you’re put in their boots.”

They’re filling those boots the best they can, and the PVFD is grateful to have them. It’s getting harder and harder to find volunteers, said lieutenant Kevin Frei, who has been with the department for 15 years. The older generation will be stepping down eventually, and finding young blood, for a lack of a better term, is going to be essential.

“The more experienced firefighters are going to be stepping down before we know it, and we’re only going to have five, six or seven of us left,” Tallmage said. “We want to encourage them to keep participating and to come help us fill those shoes.”

Frei said the cadets soak in information like a sponge. Tallmage said that goes noticed, and that their malleability is appreciated.

“Every time I come in here, I learn something new,” said Knoll.

In addition to everything else, the fire cadets are feeling themselves grow in other areas. After only a couple of months, they’re more responsible, communicative and on-time. 

“One of the biggest things I’ve learned personally is how to handle myself in stressful situations,” said Weimer. “I’ve learned how to calm myself down, how to compose myself enough to get jobs done, even in stressful situations, which I think is an important thing to learn.”

Hilpert, who called upon the cadets to assist him during Fire Safety and Awareness Week at the elementary school, called their youth and energy “awesome.” It was neat to see the cadets working with younger kids, and he could see the impact they made on the younger generation.

“I told them, ‘You’re going to be their new best friends,’” Hilpert said. “Little kids look up to firefighters, and knowing these guys from school and other activities, they really look up to them. I appreciated what they brought to the table and how they helped out.”

Shoemaker heard the same thing over and over from the elementary kids: I want to do what you’re doing.

“That was so cool,” said junior Daniela Sharples. 

Arent, who gained a built-in student safety committee in addition to a fire cadet program, said there’s nothing more rewarding for an educator than seeing students take ownership of something. He’s enjoyed watching the program grow, and joked that the five cadets act more like brothers and sisters at times.

“We have a lot of leadership in our school,” said Knoll. “Our staff is amazing, and they show us what it’s like to be real role models. There are no cliques or anything like that. We’re all friends here.”

A year ago, a fire cadet program wasn’t even on Arent’s radar. But that’s the thing about being out here in The Panhandle. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

“We have so much community support,” said Tallmage. “Our small town has our back and supports us no matter what, whether it’s the fire department, the school or at an activity, the community is there for you. Just look at the football field on a Friday night.”

Of the 28 total juniors and seniors at Potter-Dix, nine are spending at least part of their day in the community, touching lives and making impacts outside of the school’s walls. One student shadows at the elementary school. One works with Black Hills Energy. One student gains valuable experience at the City Regional Medical Center while another one works at SOAR Pediatric Therapy. 

Out here, opportunity doesn’t just exist, it overflows. 

“When I hear that we can’t do something here, that’s unacceptable to me,” said Arent. “We can do those things. We have great people here that want to work with our kids and our schools.”

Out here, opportunity begs for students like the five fire cadets at Potter-Dix.