Manteca Unified’s first vocational charter academy, MUVA, is living up to its new name — be.tech — boundless education.

First, there was be.tech Culinary Arts, or be.cuisine. Next came be.tech Industrial Fabrication and Welding, or be.industrial.

Now, starting in August at the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year is be.tech First Response, or be.first. The first enrollment has started and will continue through Wednesday, April 30.

be.First begins as the academy awards diplomas to the first students completing the two-year culinary arts course. Those successful students not only get to receive their be.tech culinary arts diploma; they are also being awarded their high school diploma.

Several of these culinary arts graduates are going on to prestigious culinary schools in the country where they have been accepted and plan to pursue bachelor’s degrees.

All be.tech programs are offered free of charge and are designed to equip students not only with employable work skills but also certificates or similar job requirements to facilitate their acceptance into the work force – employment tools that would cost them hundreds of dollars otherwise.

be.first will allow “students to explore the world of public safety, security, and emergency services managements,” according to the Manteca Unified program description.

“Students will explore fire, law enforcement, medical, and military career pathways.”

This course offering also “will address the need for emergency response workers in San Joaquin County,” the district further explained. It stated that the 2010-2020 Employment Development’s Occupational Employment Projection for San Joaquin reinforces the need for Healthcare and Protective Services practitioners and technical occupations.

“Security guards and clinical laboratory technicians are projected to be in high demand with several local and state emergency response agencies including the National Guard to ensure (MUSD be.tech) students are ready for the jobs available for them in their community.”

be.first, like be.cuisine and be.industrial, accepts incoming juniors and seniors who are seeking to advance their career technical occupations while in high school while earning industry-specific certificates at the same time.

For be.first, these certificates “include NIMS (National Incident Management Systems — introduction to incident command system, IS-100.B), CERT (Community Emergency Response Training), Advanced First (Aid), and a few optional similar to CLS (Combat Life Saver) or BLS (Basic Life Support).”

Along with the be.first coursework will be “physical training in a state-of-the-art facility”.

For additional information about any of be.tech’s two-year programs, call 1.884.4be.tech or email be.tech@musd.net or by Twitter or Instagram at @betechmusd, or at www.facebook.com/betech.