Blazing a Trail
By Cherissa Roebuck
July 12, 2024
Rachel Norwood wears many hats. Literally.
Her hats include an EMT cap, a firefighter’s helmet and, most recently, a tasseled cap at JBU’s Spring 2024 Commencement. Norwood graduated in three years with a Bachelor of Science in family and human services (FHS) and a minor in Spanish while working as a Siloam Springs Fire Department (SSFD) firefighter. Her required senior seminar capstone project educated her fellow SSFD firefighters about the importance of mental health among first responders.
Norwood dreamed of being a firefighter since she was in the 7th grade. She applied and was hired for a part-time position with the fire department during her second year at JBU. As a senior, the SSFD brought Norwood on full-time while she continued full-time studies. In June, she celebrated two years with the SSFD.
Norwood continues to serve full-time with the Siloam Springs Fire Department, some days riding the ambulance as an EMT and some days riding the ladder truck as a firefighter on emergency response calls.
When selecting her senior seminar capstone project for her FHS major, Norwood knew immediately that her project would combine her desire to help others with her passion for firefighting.
Geoffrey Reddick, Ph.D., chair of the FHS program, explained that during the yearlong senior seminar sequence and capstone project, students research, plan, create and present an educational curriculum to help a specific population. Students embark on the senior seminar sequence during their junior year, beginning with researching a community problem or need. After a literature review on their selected topic, they conduct qualitative interviews with community members experiencing this problem and professionals engaging in this need. During their senior year, students create a five-course curriculum complete with a facilitator’s manual, a participant workbook and a slide presentation.
“FHS students can do this capstone project in groups or individually,” Reddick said. “Rachel chose to do hers completely solo, which is not something we usually recommend because of how labor-intensive the project is, but that didn’t stop Rachel.”
Norwood had a vision to use what she had learned in her studies to help her fire department colleagues. She focused her capstone project on developing an educational program to help support the mental health of firefighters.
“The reason I care so much about the mental health of firefighters is that I’ve seen how working as a firefighter had not only affected my mental health but also the mental health of my co-workers,” said Norwood. “As I talked with my co-workers and heard how they would experience a traumatic call, I saw how the trauma was negatively affecting them. They needed more support from the department.”
Norwood developed a curriculum for the fire department in three sessions: Session one identifies common mental health struggles and how to recognize the signs and symptoms in first responders. Session two helps firefighters overcome barriers to mental health and shares resources available to help. Session three explores how the fire department can take the next steps to improve mental health among firefighters.
On the night Norwood was scheduled to present her project on campus, the SSFD showed up in force to support her.
“That night, someone looked outside and said, ‘Is something going on? There are multiple fire trucks here,”’ said Meaghan Ellenburg, instructor of family and human services. “Twenty firefighters, in uniform, showed up for this college student’s class presentation, and it’s because they respect her and are proud to see the work she’s doing.”
Ellenburg said community leaders who attend the project presentations give glowing comments.
“When nonprofits come to the presentations, we have consistent feedback that ‘We need this! Please don’t let this just be a school project. We need this curriculum in the community,’” Ellenburg said.
Through the senior seminar field experience course, Norwood became the first FHS major to fully implement and facilitate her curriculum in the community for independent study credit.
“Rachel wouldn’t call herself a trailblazer, but she is,” said Reddick. “She is the best of us and exemplifies all our department ideals. She’s extremely humble and never wants to take the credit. She’s quick to highlight others but is a standout student.”
Norwood’s program was well-received at the SSFD, and it is already affecting change.
“It’s been really encouraging to see that our department is taking steps,” Norwood said. “We didn’t have peer support teams prior to this program, and now we do. Through this training, the need was seen, and we implemented the teams. It’s been great to see the leadership support that.”
The SSFD leadership wholeheartedly supports Norwood’s initiative within the SSFD.
“We all benefited from the information she shared. The classes were extremely well-received, and our members took the program very seriously,” said Dustin Kindell, interim fire chief at the SSFD. “Rachel is very respected as her work ethic speaks for itself, as does her caring and compassionate attitude toward her team and the fire department as a whole.”
While Norwood’s professors, colleagues and employers are singing her praises, she is quietly wearing all her hats, dreaming about what may be next (medic school for her paramedic’s license and grad school for a master’s degree in social work) and continuing to express gratitude for the opportunities she’s embraced at both JBU and the SSFD.
“It’s not me; God opened the right doors, and SSFD and JBU supported me,” Norwood said. “What I’ve done is because of who God put in my life, and I’m grateful.”