MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, Calif. -- Twenty-eight students from Summit Leadership Academy High Desert based in Hesperia, Calif., spent two weeks in June living in a Marine Corps barracks and learning about career opportunities and military discipline at a unique summer camp at Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif.
“Summit Leadership Academy is a charter school that provides academies having to do with law enforcement, fire sciences and the military,” said Chris Jones, dean of students at SLAHD. “We teach them about what a career might be like in those fields, and we also teach them leadership skills that will help them not only in those careers but in life as well.”
As part of that experience, cadets engaged in several activities and classes during “Vanguard” summer camp from June 1st through the 15th, including close-order drill, land navigation with maps, donning personal protective equipment (PPE) from the fire department, how to clear a building as police officers would do, how to subdue a subject and apply handcuffs, and other skills and tactics routinely used by police, fire, and military personnel.
Summit Leadership Academy High Desert has a small student body of about 240 students, which Jones said allows the staff to devote much more one-on-one instructional time with the students.
“We know the names of every student in the school,” Jones said.
One of the more gratifying aspects of teaching at SLADH is watching students develop and experience those “aha” moments, Jones added.
“I’ve seen that look on the students’ faces, especially when they got here and started working with all of the fire equipment. We had a lot less people interested in fire department work until this group came here and now several of them really have an interest that career field.”
“All three instructors here, retired law enforcement, retired military, we’re all out here because we want to be here,” Jones said. “We love teaching these kids.”
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