Photo courtesy of Hoover City Schools.
A Hoover police officer shares about dusting for fingerprints during a Camp Legacy summer camp.
A Hoover police officer shares about dusting for fingerprints during a Camp Legacy summer camp.
Going into middle school is a big change for many students, and the Hoover Police Department is partnering with Hoover City Schools and the Hoover Fire Department to make the transition go more smoothly.
For the third year in a row, school resource officers are sponsoring a one-week summer camp opportunity to give some incoming sixth graders making that jump to middle school a leg up.
The summer camp is called Camp Legacy, and this year will be offered June 22-26 at Bumpus Middle School for incoming sixth graders on the west side of Hoover who will be going to either Bumpus or Simmons middle schools and July 13-17 at Berry Middle School for incoming sixth graders headed to Berry.
The free camp will run from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, with dropoff starting at 7:30 a.m. and pickup by 2:30 p.m.
While at camp, students will get a chance to become familiar with their new school while they learn leadership, personal growth tips and social skills, said Ashlyn King, a school resource officer at Rocky Ridge Elementary who is serving as camp director.
Students also will learn about digital citizenship, such as the do’s and don’ts of cell phone usage.
“The world has changed from what we were to where we are now,” said Sgt. Brock Hardy, the new supervisor for all school resource officers in Hoover. “Now, we’ve got third graders and second graders who have a cell phone. If we’re giving them a phone, they need to know what all that phone can do and the dangers that are with it.”
Students at Camp Legacy also will participate in team-building exercises and get introduced to various facets of the Hoover Police Department, such as crime scene investigations, police drones and hostage negotiations, King said. Students likely will get a chance to process their own fingerprints and simulate a hostage situation, she said.
The Hoover Fire Department also will come in and teach the students about CPR and first aid, and there could be some other special guest speakers, King said.
The classes are a mix of traditional classwork such as a PowerPoint presentation and hands-on activities for learning, Hardy said. The students also get short breaks to play games like volleyball or basketball, he said.
Camp Legacy is a good opportunity for the incoming sixth graders to get to meet some new people from other elementary schools who will be joining them at their middle school, King said.
It’s also another chance to bridge the gap between students and police officers because these summer interactions with officers will be a little different than they are during the regular school year, Hardy said.
“We’re not just a badge and a robot,” Hardy said. “We’re more than that. We’re human. We want to help. We want to be there for them no matter what it is. … It really breaks down that barrier that sometimes is put up.”
There was only one Camp Legacy two summers ago, but last year, the camps were divided between the east and west sides of town, and it went well, King said. The first year, there were roughly 25 to 30 students, and last year there were about 60, she said.
The number that will be accepted this summer had not yet been determined, King said. Applications can be turned in to any school resource officer or emailed to Ashlyn.king@hooveralabama.gov. The deadline to submit applications is May 4.
“Going to middle school is hard,” King said. “Going to a new place is hard. Change is hard, and we want to help provide them the tools that will help them be successful going forward. … That’s our goal — to try to build good leaders for the future.”
