2024 - ECC Center for Emergency Services Secures $10,000 Grant from State Farm Insurance

The Elgin Community College (ECC) Center for Emergency Services (CES) secured a $10,000 grant from State Farm Insurance to expand its new Firefighting Career Exploration program, which launched in the summer of 2024 through another State Farm grant. The program is open to middle schoolers and rising freshmen. 

The new program ran for one week last summer, but thanks to the grant, program directors plan to expand it by creating two different sessions—the first will run in the spring 2025 semester and the second in the fall.

The upcoming Firefighting Career Exploration program sessions will be shorter and run over the weekend. The dates will be announced at a later date. 

The sessions will include a fire truck driving simulation, during which students will learn how to put on gear, search houses, understand how fire behaves, learn basic life-saving techniques, and have other experiential learning opportunities.  

For more information, visit elgin.edu/kidscollege. All media-related questions or interview requests can be directed to news@elgin.edu.