RANDOLPH — The Vermont State Firefighters Association has announced that the Vermont Fire Cadet Academy will be located at Vermont Technical College in 2013.

The association says the academy is a summer program for youth ages 14 to 17 years that promotes confidence, team cooperation and individual responsibility and teaches basic firefighting and emergency service skills.

“These cadets are our future leaders in the state fire service,” said Francis Buck, who serves as both president of the VSFA and director of the academy, in a statement. “We hope that we can instill in them the lessons we’ve learned and that they will carry on our best practices.”

Vermont Technical College offers an associate degree in fire science that prepares students for careers such as firefighters, emergency medical technicians, fire suppression and alarm system installers, and fire inspectors and investigators.