Pictured from left, Eryka Slomer, Paisley Beham and Taylor Bear, all eighth-grade students at Karns City High School, attended the week-long Pennsylvania State Police Cadet Camp program, graduating July 31. Submitted photo.

Armstrong County’s Camp Cadet program recently certified 36 camp cadets and junior counselors in CPR, preparing them to step up in the event of an emergency.

The six-day overnight camp provides young boys and girls with leadership skills, confidence and personal responsibility. The program is designed to encourage service, respect, and integrity while creating future leaders.

The first responders, law enforcement and volunteers who run the camp work together to teach cadets discipline, confidence, and teamwork. The camp was open to youth between the ages of 12 and 15 years old and free to attend.

Along with CPR certification, the camp addressed other issues facing today’s youth such as drug and alcohol prevention and violence prevention. Cadets learned other life-saving skills, such as the Heimlich maneuver and how to make a tourniquet. The camp is structured similarly to police academy training. All participants are addressed as “cadet” and required to attend scheduled events.

Paisley Beham, a 13-year old who attends Karns City High School, attended the camp, and said she feels prepared her to handle emergency situations. The camp also gave her the opportunity to meet new people making the long days enjoyable.

“It was fun because I made a lot of friends” Beham said.

Beham and her friends, Eryka Slomer and Taylor Bear, also students at Karns City, decided to participate in the camp to gain some new skills.

“I wanted to try something new and do something I knew I could be proud of,” Bear said.

Aside from learning life-saving skills, the cadets got to enjoy recreational activities, such as fishing and horseback riding.

“I became so close with the girls,” Slomer said. “We’re like sisters.”

The girls agreed their favorite part of the camp was the dance they had on the last night.