By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
There are few things that Burlington High School teacher Troy Everson likes to do more than talk about his students’ accomplishments.
So, when Burlington Area School District School Board member Rosanne Hahn – who is also the district delegate at the Wisconsin Association of School Boards conference this week – asked if he wanted to attend the conference to present on the BHS emergency medical technicians training, he was more than enthusiastic.
“If you give me a chance to brag about Burlington, BHS or my students, sit back and hang on,” Everson said Tuesday. “You’ve got the ride of your life coming up.”
Everson will have a booth at the WASB convention talking about BHS1 – the program that allows high school students to become EMTs through Gateway Technical College.
Currently, BHS is the only high school program in the state that has a dedicated group of students – a total of 21 at present time – responding to 911 calls during the day, and only the second nationwide. Students sign up for shifts, and are able to leave school to respond to calls as needed.
All 21 students are seniors that have signed up for the EMT-Basic course through the youth options program – a statewide credit program that allows students to get postsecondary credits.
The BHS1 program will hit its 128th graduate this spring, and Everson estimated about 75 of those students are still involved in a medical field of some sort.
Students who participate are expected to be pursuing a medical field and complete the school’s anatomy and physiology class. Those accepted train at Gateway’s HERO Center in Burlington.
Everson won’t be alone at the conference. Students Jacob Drettwan, Tanner Swantz, Rylee Jacobsen, Abby Sibilski, Hegeman Tiedt, Jordan Jones and Tristan Lind will also be there, and one of the program’s first graduates will be there as well.
Jesse Schwarten, who was in the first class of BHS1, will be there both days. Schwarten is now the deputy medical examiner for Kenosha County after attending the University of Wisconsin–Platteville to earn his bachelor’s degree in forensic investigation, with minors in biology and criminal justice.
“He’s a wonderful young man,” Everson said.
Schwarten said the program got him interested in the medical field.
“That kind of got it all started,” said Schwarten, who added that the experience helped him land his job in Kenosha.
It’s been a busy week so far for Everson. On Monday, he was honored by the Burlington Rotary as the group’s Humanitarian of the Year.
Shortly after the award ceremony Monday night, he went to administer his final exam in the forensic science class at the high school.
The award, he said, is proof that he and his colleagues are doing right by their students.
“It was an extremely humbling experience,” Everson said. “But it was also proof positive that what I and my colleagues in education here in Burlington is the right thing.”
As for the convention, it just gave Everson more chances to show off the work his students have done.
“I’m beyond excited,” he said. “I think all too often people hear about the negativity of teenagers. Instead of seeing what students are doing wrong, I get a chance to show our state what our students are doing right.”
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