Wenatchee Schools Alerting Public About First Responder Job Fair On Campus

The Wenatchee School District wants to make the public aware of a planned event that is not putting the high school in any danger.

A first responder career fair is being held in the school's parking lot on Thursday with a large number of emergency vehicles on hand.

Wenatchee Schools District spokesperson Diana Haglund says it's important to let residents know ahead of time that it's a planned gathering, and not an active emergency on campus.

"Miller is a heavy trafficked street," said Haglund. "And so, when people see things going on at the high school, they tend to make phone calls and ask questions. And so, we're trying to be proactive in our approach to communicate out what's going on."

The emergency vehicles will arrive at the high school around 7:30 Thursday morning and will remain in the lot until 3:30 PM.

Haglund says there was heavy concern among residents when the Police Department brought in emergency vehicles for a training session on campus during summer break.

"We received just a huge influx of concerned phone calls from the public about why all these vehicles were at the high school, what was going on," Haglund said. "So, we just have it as part of our procedure now to make sure people are aware about what's going on at the high school, or in this case what's not happening."

While the district is focused on avoiding panic among residents and unknowing parents, Wenatchee High students will have a chance to visit with professionals from the following agencies and organizations to learn about education, training, and career pathways in the first responder field.

Air Lift Northwest
Confluence Health Emergency Room and Career Pathways
Chelan County Sheriff - Search & Rescue
Department of Natural Resources
Life Flight
Rivercom
Wenatchee Police Department
Wenatchee Valley Fire

Haglund said it’ll be the first career fair the district has held targeting first responders. She said there’s a huge need for people in a variety of different areas within the industry, from providing direct service in the emergency room to pilots who fly helicopters for Life Flight, and everyone in between.