Kamloops high school students get taste of police training at RCMP Youth Academy

Their day starts at 6:00 a.m. They make their beds and clean their quarters before getting ready for the day. At the academy, dressing in uniform extends past their clothes – and each student is to look the exactly same.

They do this to emphasize the importance of working as a team.

“We’ve come so close together. They have my back and I have their back. It’s just like without a doubt, I know they’ll be there,” Ashtynn Gurnsey, a student participant, told CFJC News.

Before they get to eat, they do physical training as if they were in real depot.

“The training in the morning – waking up, nothing in your belly,” Eric Marshall, another student participant, explained. “It’s actually probably a good thing there’s nothing in your belly, considering I only had nothing in my belly and I threw up the first day.”

Most of the students opted into the program because they were interested in becoming a Mountie.

Each day, they are introduced to a different law enforcement unit and learn what to expect in a career with the RCMP.

The group heard from RCMP members, conservation officers and Crown council, and even learned some self-defence skills.

Despite the early mornings and extreme workouts, after getting a real taste of depot, the students say they are looking forward to pursuing it further.

On Thursday, the students will graduate from the Youth Academy with a formal event in front of their parents, where they will showcase some of what they learned and their marching will be put to the test.

by Sydney Chisholm

Kamloops high school students get taste of police training at RCMP Youth Academy

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