NVR- Wow, I might be on the "Today Show" tomorrow!
YIKES!! I'll, no doubt, look like a total dork, but I am excited if our camp gets air time!!
Some local fire dept's here in Kansas put on a week long camp for teenage girls that allows girls (age 15 to 19) to learn more about a career in the fire and emergency services. Camp Inferno is only one of two camps of its kind in the world and uses the skills and challenges of firefighting as a vehicle for leadership training, team building and instilling confidence. This is the third year we've done it and it is always so amazing to see the huge leap of confidence the girls walk away here with. We provide a lot of team building, fun, and challenging activities for them (for example they get to rappel a five story building, put out real fires, cut up -extricate- a car, navigate a maze wearing the airpacks and gear -the real stuff-, climb a 75 foot aerial ladder truck-- safety is always paramount of course!) all the while making new friends from around the U.S (we even had a girl from Sweden attend last year) and learning to believe they can do anything they set their mind to! We want to let girls know that firefighting IS an option for them, since girls aren't brought up being taught to think that way so much like boys are, but it is so gratifying seeing that the deeper lessons they take with them from the camp are skills they will use in their life no matter what proffession they seek: self-confidence and self respect; respect for others; never giving up no matter how hard something looks, but also not being afraid of failure because we all do at times and its an avenue of learning; and learning to make new friends, new bonds, trusting others, and working in a team, while still having the courage to present ideas.
5 of our local dept's help sponsor it so the camp only costs $25 because we want anyone who's interested to be able to attend, no matter family income. We've had all kinds of girls attend and they all have been smiling ear to ear when they left! We put on a formal graduation ceremony for them the last day where they can also show their family and friends the skills they've learned. Many of the adults tell us they wish they had the chance to do the things we teach the girls and many of them keep in touch with Julie, the founder, amazed at the change in their girls' confidence from just a week of camp.
Anyway, it's all very inspiring to me to see the difference in the girls from day one when they seem intimidated to be around a bunch of strangers and hear what they get to do to the last day when they can't wait to show their parents and cry because they don't want to leave their new friends.
"The Today Show" (NBC) came out to film it this year and it's supposed to be on tomorrow morning (July 5th)sometime in the 7 AM hour (central standard time). The anchor man interviewed me after I instructed him how to put his firefighting gear on, so I might be in it. :P The producer told me I would just be telling him how to put the gear on, not answering any questions so I was pretty taken back when he started asking me question after question. :o Hopefully I get edited out! ;)
For any of you who might know of any young girls interested, ( I highly recommend it to any girl though! We had a girl who was hearing impaired last year, too, who wanted to be a fire fighter!) here is a link to Camp Inferno:
http://opkansas.org/_Res/Police_and_Fire/Fire_Department/Camp_Inferno/index.cfm
(no I don't get any kind of commission or anything! ;) )
Oops, sorry for such a LONG post! :P
Congrats! That all sounds very cool, though I unfortunately won't be able to watch--we don't get T.V. in NoWhereLand.
The camp sounds incredible--is it by chance veggie-friendly?
Congrats firefightress....that is so cool. I can imagine the confidence that these young ladies come away with. :)
I'll be watching & I hope you don't get editted out.
wow what an awesome opportunity for young girls. We need more empowering opportunites like this!
That's so cool! I'd be one of those adults wishing I had done something like that! ;D How many girls go through the camp each year? Is there a waiting list? I don't know any girls in that age range, but it sounds like a great thing to keep in mind for career day. I could tell 300 girls about it and none or 1 might be interested an follow through. Would that be alright? If it is, I could also make sure Fire knows. I meet with them pretty regularly. That's an awesome program.
I was complaining on the Diva cup thread that I was on scene one day with 100 men (mostly Fire) and the city officials (not Fire) kept trying to direct me to the information officer because I don't think they see enough women handling things, so they assumed I was a reporter. There's really no general support for women getting into emergency response. It would be awesome if we weren't anomalies.
Thanks guys! I hoped I wouldn't sound like I was trying to brag but I hope a lot of young women find out about it, it is SUCH a great learning experience for them- like Hiimkelsi said, it is so empowering for them and at such an influential age! I wish there had been something like that available when I was younger!! ;D
Humboldt, I saw your post on the Diva thread and could completely relate and wondered what you did- just thought it might be considered nosy asking. :) Now knowing it was firemen (usually I say firefighters, but this time it's male specific I'm referring to), I can empathize even MORE. ::) It's an awesome job, just sometimes frustrating how slow progress can seem to be in changing traditional perspectives. As veg*ns, we can all relate to that!! ;)
That's so cool! I'd be one of those adults wishing I had done something like that! ;D How many girls go through the camp each year? Is there a waiting list? I don't know any girls in that age range, but it sounds like a great thing to keep in mind for career day. I could tell 300 girls about it and none or 1 might be interested an follow through. Would that be alright? If it is, I could also make sure Fire knows. I meet with them pretty regularly. That's an awesome program.
Absolutely, please do tell as many people as you'd like: young girls, parents of children, friends, etc.! We have room for 24 girls. If we get more, we might be able to expand it to accommodate more, too. There is not a waiting list yet, as it is still so new and we've only advertised by word of mouth and Overland Park Fire Dept's website. It is in mid June each year.
Congrats! That all sounds very cool, though I unfortunately won't be able to watch--we don't get T.V. in NoWhereLand.
The camp sounds incredible--is it by chance veggie-friendly?
Hi 7! Sometimes no tv is a blessing! ;) We have a chef sit down with the girls on the first night and ask if there are certain foods they don't like or can't eat. Then he prepares a daily menu for them and lets them know what it will be for the week. (They have all seemed to be impressed with the food.) We haven't had any veg*n girls yet and since I'm staff I don't count for special treatment, ;). I just bring my own food and eat with them. We teach acceptance of others and team effort, so I feel confident efforts would be made to reasonably accommodate everyone. :) And I've already broken the ice with veg*nsism with the staff. :)
We have a chef sit down with the girls on the first night and ask if there are certain foods they don't like or can't eat. Then he prepares a daily menu for them and lets them know what it will be for the week.
That's BEAUTIFUL! I was just curious if there was that kind of respect there as there is none of that kind of respect here. Around here there is only discernment between "I might die if I eat that" and 'you're in Montana--you'll take what you get and say "thankyou, ma'am".
Hugely amazing! The camp sounds great and what an amazing opportunity for girls/young women to build self esteem and realize their potential. Wish I could see the show.
Congrats on making a difference in the lives of young women!
Di
wow, that sounds like an awesome program. Its kinda like a two-fur; help individuals women AND help the community with crazy-nija-fire-figting action! Hiyah!
um...anyways
I'm scared crap of fire, so I'm glad there are people who don't hyperventilate when some one lights a birthday candle. :) Regardless of if you make it on the show or not, the public needs to hear about this so they an be involved! Bon Chance!
Now that its tomorrow, how did the show go? Did you guys get on?
Yeah. I don't have TV, so I'm curious myself.
Me three.
Hi all! Sorry for not getting back sooner. I've been out of town with no internet access. I don't think it aired. :( I could only watch 'til 8am and I didn't see it and I don't see it on their website now. The media contact said there's always a chance of it getting bumped and in that case it'll show on another day-- i.e.: when there are not a lot of bigger stories. ::) Darn. Hopefully soon, though. I'll let you know when I hear more. Thanks for all the interest!
Sounds like a great camp Fightress! Just looked it up on the website. I bet the girls would have a blast and come away with alot of new information and friends. Keep up the good work!!
Hi guys. Well I missed it, but it aired this morning. Here is a link to it. Guess they didn't edit me out. :o I am the one who is pointing out to the anchorman how to put on his gear and then again the one saying how the girls are totally different from the first day they arrive and the last day they leave. The clip is 2 and a half minutes long and there is a 30 second advertisement you can't skip through first.
http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=9a60fd98-779a-49fe-8292-1345b4fdd4f5&f=05&fg=rss
Feel free to contact me if you guys know anyone who is interested in it. :)
That's a great program! I'm definitely going to spread the word. I'm glad they had it online so we could all see it.