Camp Hero: Girl Scouts get firsthand look at careers as first responders
OAK CREEK, Wis. (CBS 58) – One local summer camp helps teach young girls about how to become first responders.
"I absolutely love it. I didn't have that growing up. I didn't see female firefighters, so I love being that example, and even if they don’t go the fire route, just exposing them to different careers as first responders," Briona Conway said.
Conway, a former day camp director, is a paramedic firefighter for the Milwaukee Fire Department (MFD). While she is only a few years into her career putting out fires, she is already spending a week every Summer trying to spark one in the next generation at Camp Hero.
"I saw them doing this, and I was like, 'I would love to combine both passions.' Like, the experience that I've already had, as well as what I'm currently doing," she said.
Camp Hero, an annual Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast camp, is for girls from 7th to 12th grade who learn what it is like to be a first responder.
"I think it gave me a good opportunity to see what I wanted to do with my future," Abby H. said. "I really was surprised that I liked it."
The camp is about exposing young ladies, like 16-year-old Abby H., to what firefighters and police officers do while showing them they can suit up, too.
"I never thought I'd be here, honestly," Abby H. said. "It's really eye-opening to see, 'Hey look, I'm in fire gear all of a sudden. I'm holding a hose; I'm crawling on the floor in the buildings trying to find things.' It's really like a first-hand experience of all of it. It's not sugar-coating anything, you're diving right into what you'd be doing in the actual profession."
The girls see women thriving in these positions, from both the MFD and the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD), who work with them daily during the camp at Milwaukee Area Technical College's Oak Creek Campus.
"I look for a lot of our female officers to be mentors during this week for our campers," MPD Community Engagement and Relations Manager Marcey Patterson said. "I think it's very important that the young women see our female officers in uniform."
They learn exactly what it takes, from fighting fires to scaling buildings.
"This camp most definitely changed my perspective on first responders," Serenity C. said.
Sixteen-year-old Serenity C. tells CBS 58 that coming back to Camp Hero for the second year in a row was an easy choice because she has fun and learns what being a police officer is all about.
"It's nice to know that I'm one of the few people who do have the chance to see what it's like before getting into it," she said.
While some discover an unknown passion, Camp Hero is also about life experiences.
"Seeing this camp in action is really amazing," Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast Director of Marketing & Communications Emily Roethle said.
"Girls getting exposed to this at a young age and seeing that they can really do anything and that any career option is available to them. Even if they don't opt to do this as a career, it gives them more empathy for people, and it teaches them about friendship and teamwork and leadership and independence, too."
For the campers, it is also about the friendships they make and the great time they have during it.
"Girls that want to come to Camp Hero I definitely encourage it. We got a lot of bunks in there, there's room for everyone," Abby H. said. "It's a lot of fun. It is."
For more information on Camp Hero, click here.