Students from three schools in the Cariboo enjoyed an RCMP mini youth academy hosted by Sxoxomic Community School at Esk’etemc on Tuesday, May 31.
Instigated by Const. Adam Hildebrandt of the BC RCMP Indigenous Policing Services, the students learned about physical fitness, uniform and equipment, basic investigation, forensic identifications, basic marching and police dog services.
“The school had been really craving police interaction and some sort of a career fair so I talked with Cpl. Bentley Bouchard, who coordinates the Grade 11 and 12 police academy and we decided we could condense it down to a one-day version.”
Bouchard coordinated who should attend, and Hildebrandt said he liaised with the school.
Twenty students from Dog Creek Elementary-Junior Secondary and Rosie Seymour Elementary School also participated.
Police officers from the Williams Lake RCMP Indigenous policing services, forensic identification section, crime reduction unit participated as well as police dog services from Quesnel.
“We had planned to have air services as well as the emergency response team come down but due to operational priorities they were not able to at the last minute,” Hildebrandt said.
Hildebrandt has been stationed at Esk’etemc since January and said it was the first event they could do at the school since pandemic restrictions were lifted.
“It’s been a tough period of time to plan things.”
Sxoxomic School acting principal and education director Calvin Dubray said the day was well attended.
“We ran five stations and had the students go through them at different age levels. At the end, having the dog unit come down from Quesnel was awesome.”
Dubray said Hildebrandt is in the community Tuesdays to Fridays and goes into the school often, participating in special events and helping with lock-down drills and other basic education activities with the students.
“It’s great to have his presence in the community and make that connection with the kids.”
In September the school hopes to host a follow-up RCMP session and have the air services and emergency response team do demonstrations.
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