By Wesley LeBlanc wesley@opcfla.com
CAMP BLANDING – Ten years later, Camp Cadet is still changing lives.
Camp Cadet is a week-long summer camp that’s unlike any other. It’s not all fun in games, although there’s certainly fun to be had. It’s a mentally and physically exhausting camp that aims to turn local teenagers into leaders. It’s been doing just that for 10 years and the founder of Northeast Florida’s Camp Cadet, retired Green Cove Springs Police Department Sgt. Kimberly Miller, is beyond thrilled with how it’s grown.
“These kids change my life, every year,” Miller said. “When I retired back in March, I thought long and hard about retiring from everything, including the camp, so that I could relax, but I couldn’t do it. [GCSPD Chief Derek Asdot] said, ‘you don’t have it in you to leave this behind because you know it’s all about these kids.’ He was right.”
Miller said every year she walks away with something special, be it something new she learned about herself, a new touching story that inspires her daily, or another couple dozen “kids” to add to her “family.” Miller calls the Camp Cadet attendees “kids” because she really feels like they become a part of her life forever after seven days at the Camp Blanding camp each year.
She just had lunch with a cadet from her very first camp in Florida and she said it was incredible to see that this cadet now has their own child who might go through Camp Cadet one day.
The camp originated in Pennsylvania in 1970 by three state troopers. The camp continued to grow, stretching to more counties until Miller was asked to help with a new Allegheny County camp. She loved it and took the idea to Northeast Florida when she and her family relocated to the area.
Miller was working for the Green Cove police when she asked then-Chief Robert Musco if she could start a camp. He said it might not work as well as she hoped.
The camp relied on multiple police departments and organizations to put the camp together. Musco told Miller local organizations weren’t as willing to work together with other agencies. But Miller wasn’t phased – she simply asked for a chance.
It didn’t take long to get the blessings of the police departments in multiple counties and within a year, the first Northeast Florida camp was a go. It started at Camp Blanding but after some time, it moved to the North Fork Leadership Center in Middleburg. But with the recent sale of North Fork, it returned to Camp Blanding this year. Miller said be it destiny or chance, it was fitting that the 10th-anniversary camp happened at the original location.
“What is Camp Cadet? Camp Cadet is a leadership camp for youth aged 12 to 15 and it emphasizes leadership, teamwork, and more,” Miller said. “It features aspects of the military, because of its location, but it’s heavily based on the police academy. We’ve become very selective over the years because of demand and well because it’s not for everybody.”
Miller said teenagers interested have to apply, which entails a 500-word essay on their definition of leadership, an interview with a panel of citizens and law enforcement, and more. She said this is done to eliminate parents who view Camp Cadet as a babysitting opportunity. The camp is funded by fundraising and the many police departments and organizations that are involved – and free to the cadets – to ensure the teenager is mature enough to participate.
“A lot of the material addressed is very serious and designed for a mature audience and then there’s also the fact that we have to ensure they have the stamina to keep up,” Miller said. “It’s a very mentally and draining camp.”
Miller still has an essay in her nightstand about leadership written by a previous cadet named Kyle Warren. She reads it anytime she feels like it’s time to stop leading the charge at Camp Cadet.
Miller said Warren attended Camp Cadet nine years ago and when he attended, he had a difficult time at first. He was very shy and withdrawn, not able to do a push-up and he vocalized his lack of excitement around things like running just a touch more than the rest. Miller ran with him, encouraging his every step. She didn’t let up because he needed the encouragement.
Nine months later, she learned Warren was killed in a fatal car crash. The picture for his obituary was taken when he was a cadet. His parents said it was because that one week changed so much about his life – all for the better.
“We reached out to ask mom and dad if we could attend the funeral and they were honored,” Miller said. “We all stood at the back of the church and after the procession, everyone came up to us to shake our hands and they were all telling us how much Kyle talked about Camp Cadet and how much it meant to him.
“He was no longer the introvert that he was before camp. He stood tall and proud. He was so proud of his accomplishment, of making it through Camp Cadet, and growing into a true leader. That inspired me and I kept his essay that he wrote to get into Camp Cadet and I have his picture, too.”
When Miller is feeling doubt, or when raising the $400 a child it costs for the camp, she reads that essay. Today, Camp Cadet awards a camper with the Kyle Warren Perseverance Award. At first, Warren’s parents handed out the award, but it eventually became too difficult for the family.
The Warren family, however, still writes a check each year to sponsor one child.
“That’s what Camp Cadet is about,” Miller said. “We’re a family and we’re all changing lives, be it our own or someone else’s. We break our campers down, dig deep to learn who they are, and build them back up to be the best versions of themselves, the leaders we all know they are.”
The camp allows people from Clay, Bradford, Duval, St. Johns and Nassau County to apply. It’s a tuition-free, one-week event staffed by local police and sheriff departments from Clay, Duval, Bradford and Nassau counties. Among other things, the campers learn drill and marching techniques, get certified in CPR, participate in mock crime scene investigations and criminal trials and witness life flight helicopter demonstrations.
Camp Cadet is described as a holistic approach to taking campers from all kinds of backgrounds and turning them into leaders – the leaders of tomorrow.
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Ten years later, Camp Cadet continues to mold teens into tomorrow's leaders - Clay Today Online
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