Glendale to host camp for high school girls interested in public safety jobs

PHOENIX — Applications are now open for high school-aged girls to participate in a hands-on camp that will introduce them to the jobs of both police officers and firefighters.

Aspire Academy is a unique camp in collaboration with the Girl Scouts and will allow young girls to participate in a variety of activities that work to build leadership, self-confidence and respect through teamwork.

The camp will be held Oct. 14-17 at the Glendale Regional Public Safety Training Center, the same facility where men and women begin their fire and law enforcement careers.

Girls will gear up and work alongside both men and women of the Glendale police and fire departments to tactics used on the job including hose lays, rappelling, investigating crime scenes and shooting at their virtual shooting range.

Camp goers will stay overnight at the Girls Scouts facility in South Phoenix and transportation will be provided.

“The camp itself is to introduce young ladies to the opportunities that both the police and fire department present to them,” Glendale fire captain Ashley Losch told KTAR News.

To date, women make up 12% of the Glendale Police Department and 5% of the city’s fire department.

“We want to show them that not only they could become police officers or firefighters but we also want to give them the confidence to move forward in their lives and do whatever it is that they want to do,” Losch added.

Applications close on Sept. 29. The fee for the camp is $125, but scholarships are available.

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