DOWNEY - Downey resident Adam Zipperian, a former explorer with the Downey Fire Department who currently works with the department's basic life support ambulance, has been named "Associate Advisor of the Year" for the entire Los Angeles region by Learning for Life.Zipperian, 24, came to the Downey Fire Department in 2005 as an explorer and in 2006 attended his first California Fire Exploring Academy in Modesto. He finished the Rio Hondo Fire Academy in 2007 with top cadet honors. "Since graduating the Rio Hondo Fire Academy, Adam has continued to follow a challenging path by being involved in programs that might lead him to a career in firefighting," Peter Browne, of the Downey Fire Department, wrote in an essay nominating Zipperian for the award. "Adam graduated from paramedic school, volunteers as an auxiliary firefighter and has been hired as an ambulance operator. During this busy time most people would only have energy to focus on their career path but during this entire time, Adam continued to attend weekly explorer meetings, running lectures, supervising fitness, scheduled community service events and attending such events along with his explorers." Zipperian and the explorers also took on the task of repainting more than 2,000 fire hydrants in the city. "Adam is a special associate advisor because of the time he so freely gives for the benefit of others and the successes he fosters within our explorer program," Browne wrote. "He is such an extraordinary asset to our program and to all around him as he gives back to a program that has given so much to him."

********** Published: March 10, 2011 - Volume 9 - Issue 47