2021 ERT Senior of the Year to attend IUP

Congratulations to Deer Lakes senior Anesha Lambert-Chairez who was named Co-Salutatorian at A.W. Beattie Career Center and Senior of the Year in the Emergency Response Technology program!

“I feel really honored to be honest,” Anesha said. “I kind of worked my butt off to get a high rank at Deer Lakes, but I really didn’t know anything about this until they called me down to the office and surprised me.”

Anesha plans to take a gap year to work and then attend IUP’s Paramedic program. She also wants to work in the field as an EMT and be a volunteer interior firefighter.

She chose Beattie’s Emergency Response Technology program after she decided to pursue her EMT instead of becoming a nurse or vet.

“I fell in love with the hands-on stuff right away,” she said. “It made me realize this is what I wanted to do.”

Anesha said she enjoyed everything in the program, even when things got tough.

“Definitely the practical hands-on exam last year before Covid shut us down was difficult,” Anesha said. “I was very stressed with anxiety and didn’t think I was going to pass. Definitely right now the most difficult thing is passing the NREMT exam, which I’ve been studying for non-stop for four weeks now.”

Anesha’s greatest influences were Mr. Thomas and Mrs. Rogowski.

“They’re both great instructors and pushed me to go for my career,” Anesha said. “If it wasn’t for them, I may have given up. Without them I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today. They’re just great people and I’d recommend them to anyone interested in being first responders or being in the medical field.”

Anesha is in National Honor Society and National Technical Honor Society. She is also on the Girls Volleyball, Swim (2-year captain) and Cheerleading teams at Deer Lakes. In her volunteer work, Anesha helps with the Boys Volleyball team operations and is a volunteer firefighter at West Deer 1 Station 288.

Good Luck Anesha!