Colorado Mountain College celebrates Fire Academy, EMT graduates

Colorado Mountain College celebrated over 35 students earning certifications on April 24 at the Carbondale and Rural Fire Protection District Headquarters in Carbondale, as local community members are just steps away from protecting the same community that helped raise them. 

The graduation comes after a disappointing winter snowpack and the impending fire danger that accompanies it, underscoring the need for locally trained emergency responders.

For Morgan Huffnus, a longtime CMC professor and first-year instructional coordinator for the EMT and Fire Academy, being able to nurture the “homegrown students,” as she calls them, is an added bonus of teaching a course with real-world implications. 

“It’s always amazing to see how many local students we get. I like to call them the homegrown students because they’re born here, they’re raised here, and they have this unique dedication to helping their community,” Huffnus said. “Whether it’s going into nursing, paramedics, fire, law enforcement, or whatever, to give back to their own community in that way is super cool.”

She said seeing students who graduated from the Fire Academy last semester in the EMT class, or vice versa, was incredibly touching and further exemplified the dedication both CMC and locals have to making a difference in their communities. 

“It was really prudent to see students who had done both programs back-to-back this semester,” she said. “It really feels like we’re gaining a lot of traction and building well-rounded students who come out of these programs. We ensure we teach these students what they need to hit the ground running on their first day. These departments are expecting us to put forth a student who is coachable and has a foundation.”

She said that because of the somewhat limited resources and the high demand the two courses experience every semester, the importance of collaboration with local departments couldn’t be overstated. 

“Glenwood might do things differently than Aspen, which might do things differently than Rifle, so we have to make sure these students have a proper foundation that they can go out in the field, be coachable, and get the job done,” she said. “It’s really important that we have really good faculty and adjuncts supporting our program. Our local departments are amazing at sending us staff to help us teach, and it feels very much like one big family.

“Not only do all of our adjuncts and faculty come from local departments, but I’ll see some of my old students who have gotten jobs at local departments, and they’ll ask, ‘Hey, can I come help teach? I want to give back to the program,'” Huffnus continued. “Our students are so well-rounded that they’re not only serving their community as a firefighter or EMT, but they’re also serving it as the future instructors and adjuncts for the next students to come through the programs.”

Cadie Harrison, a Roaring Fork Valley native, knows firsthand how indispensable emergency medical service workers are. She explained that the most meaningful part to her has been the opportunity to be mentored by instructors who share her passion for the same local community. 

“Having grown up here, I have seen firsthand how essential EMS and fire services are to the well-being of this valley,” Harrison said. “It has been especially impactful to learn from instructors who both serve and are rooted in this same community. The close-knit nature of this environment, combined with these educational experiences, has further solidified my commitment to serving the place that has shaped me.”

Harrison, who graduated from the CMC Fire Academy on Friday afternoon, had already completed the EMT program along with the CMC Wilderness Responder Course. She said that the connections she formed with instructors and classmates alike gave her confidence in herself and more fuel in her drive to serve her hometown community. 

“Through (the EMT and Wilderness Responder courses) experiences, I developed a strong connection to the EMS field and a deep respect for the role it plays in our community,” Harrison said. “I am especially grateful for the instructors whose dedication and engagement made a lasting impact on my learning. 

“Their mentorship not only strengthened my skills but also gave me the confidence and motivation to continue my training and pursue the fire academy,” she continued. 

Huffnus said that even after seeing more than 10 graduation ceremonies across multiple campuses, she still looks forward to seeing students celebrate with the people who helped support them.

“Graduation is probably my favorite day of the year,” she said. “It’s really cool to not only see so many students graduate but to see their family and friends come support them. They can’t make it through a program like this without support from their family and friends, and then to have departments come down, and fire chiefs and support our program and their recruits is a very special feeling.”

Colorado Mountain College will continue its spring graduation celebrations May 1-2 at the CMC Spring Valley Field House, 3000 County Road 114, Glenwood Springs, where it will recognize nearly 2,000 graduates from its Aspen, Carbondale, Spring Valley, and Glenwood Springs campuses.

Original reporting from postindependent.com