Martin County Schools NC

Exploring Opportunities to Find a Path

2024 Graduate Already Paid Firefighter/EMT

Sun Tzu, a Chinese philosopher, writer, and military officer, once said, “Opportunities multiply as they are seized.” 

That was the case for Jayla Everett, a 2024 graduate of South Creek High School’s final class. 

During the first semester of her senior year, a guest speaker led her on what would become her next step. 

“Chief Peaks (Williamston Fire/Rescue) came to my agriculture class to talk about programs,” Everett explained. “I wanted the Fire Explorer Program, but I was informed I was almost too old.” 

Jayla was already  17 years old and the Explorer Program ends when a student turns 18. 

“I wanted her to get the experience,” Peaks said, “but I didn’t want her just to have four months. Mr. Wynne found a way and that was through the internship program.” 

“I think it’s great that Chief Peaks accepted the invitation,” said Wynne. “

Everett’s internship would be the first post-Covid internship for a Martin County Schools student at the fire station. 

“I had thought about the fire academy,” Everett explained. This was not her only area of interest at this point.

“She also had welding on her mind,” Jason Wynne, Coordinator of MCS Career & Technical Education, said, “which she was exploring in her agriculture class.” The class where she met Chief Peaks. Wynne continued, “We brought in several speakers in various trade and business areas, and they spoke to several classes, including CTE and Early College. This gave all the students exposure to a plethora of career options.” 

As a high school senior, Everett was making the most of exploring her options at no cost. 

The wheels were in motion between Martin County Schools and the Williamston Fire Department, and it did not take long for Everett to begin her internship. 

What did the internship entail? 

“A lot of it was following the crew around,” she explained. “If I wasn’t doing that I was working on related work to this like typing up diaries.”

Methodical and focused even as a teen, Everett did not decide immediately. 

“Two or three months in, I became more sure this was what I wanted,” she added. 

Everett quickly began to envision the opportunities that were available by finding her spot at the fire department. Wynne explained he watched the student begin to realize what her future could hold. 

“She told me if I can get on and get to working, then I will have time to take some classes and I can continue to build something else even while I am in the service,” said Wynne. “Still helping and serving others, which was what she wanted to do, and that was great.”  

Jayla was not the only student who benefitted from Chief Peak’s visit to Career and Technical Education classes at the MCS Innovation Campus. 

“By doing that one outreach at the Innovation Campus, we went from the Explorer Post/Junior Firefighters being an existing organization with no membership to being an existing organization with nine people that were interested,” according to Peaks. Of those, six are still active.

After graduation, Everett began the Fire Academy program through Martin Community College, and she will graduate in December. While she attended the academy at night, she seized another opportunity and completed her Emergency Medical Technician or EMT certification during the day. 

“The only thing she has between her and moving her salary even higher is the advanced EMT class,” according to Peaks. “And that starts just after the first of the year.” 

“Jayla has set herself up for success right from jump street,” her chief added. He sees his newest firefighter as a fully credentialed firefighter before the end of next year, and she will still be in her teens.

In late October, Jayla Everett became a paid firefighter and reported for her first shift with the Williamston Fire Department. She is one of five female firefighters on staff at the department, at least one on each shift.

Jayla became the second firefighter in her family, following her grandfather David Everett, previous chief of the Hamilton Volunteer Fire Department.

“It is my hope a current Martin County High School student will see Jayla’s story and be inspired to explore their interests and embrace the opportunities to become Enrolled, Enlisted and Employed,” Wynne added. 

What would Jayla tell current high school students? 

“If you are offered an opportunity, and you are even thinking about it, look into it more. I didn’t know I absolutely wanted an internship, but I looked into it more,” she explained. “That’s how I started my online classes at Martin Community College, my instructor at the fire academy told me about it. I didn’t know then if I wanted to do it for sure, but I did and it’s great.” She is now pursuing a degree in Public Safety Administration. 

Could Everett see her current position when she took the internship? “Absolutely not,” she replied. “Not even when I left the internship.” 

Wynne explained, “In the Career and Technical Education Program, we have to track what we call non-traditional enrollments. Jayla was in that category in an ag mechanics class doing welding. She was a non-traditional enrollment with her internship here at the fire department. What she has done is open the doors for these other girls in 9th, 10th and 11th grades.”

Any Martin County High School student interested in internship possibilities should contact Jason K. Wynne at jwynne@martin.k12.nc.us.