A unique collaboration in Cobb County, Georgia, is engaging firefighters, teachers and middle school students in fire safety research through the UL Xplorlabs® Fire Forensics resource.

In 2018, the UL Xplorlabs team was invited to Cobb County for first-of-its-kind training on the fire module. This professional development included middle school teachers from six schools along with 25 firefighters with the goal of partnering teachers and their student with fire service professionals in a way that brings the career of firefighting and investigating to life while supporting teachers during hands-on investigations involving open flames.

This unique partnership between Cobb County Schools, Cobb County Fire, the Cobb County Safety Village, and UL Education and Outreach team provides students in-depth learning opportunities to understand the science of fire, as well as the skills necessary for a career in the fire service.

Since it’s inception, more than 65 fire service professionals and middle school teachers from 21 schools have attended trainings together and are implementing UL Xplorlabs as partners in the classrooms of Cobb County. This is an exceptional model of collaboration centered around a resource based on UL’s research in fire science.

Join Steve Kerber, UL’s Vice President of Research and Director of the UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute (FSRI); Cara Gizzi, Vice President of Education and Outreach; and Dr. Kelly Keena, Director of Education and Outreach; as they explain UL’s vision and strategy to making a safer world by combining fire research with education.

Cobb County’s STEM Innovation Supervisor Dr. Sally Creel, McClesky Middle School Teacher Megan O’Keeffe, Director of Cobb County Safety Village Allison Carter, and Captain Sean Gray from Cobb Fire narrate the way partnerships with UL and with one another strengthen teacher and student experiences in middle school classrooms.

If you are interested in a partnership similar to what is explained here, please contact the UL Xplorlabs team directly at education.ul.org/contact.