BOISE, Idaho — The second SHIELD Academy, a summer youth program hosting a group of 25 students between the ages of 12-15 by the Boise Police Department School Resource Officers, concluded this week.
The program's core themes, Success, Helping, Innovation, Empowerment, Leadership, and Discovery, was started last year, focusing on life skills, character building, and opportunities to explore a variety of careers.
The program lasts for two weeks and participants engage in a variety of daily activities, including hiking Table Rock, visiting JUMP, learning about animals at Zoo Boise, team building exercises, and field trips to the Old Penitentiary, the Idaho Black History Museum and Boise State. Students also learned about goal setting and leadership development from guest speakers.
The SHIELD program provides students the chance to create bonds not only with one another but also with the individual officers who are involved with the program.
"I always thought policemen were like big scary people and I should always avoid them. But going through the program I've realized that they're very nice people and they're individuals and they're not really out to get you, they're there to help you," said Akara Berry, a student in this year's class
SROs select the students that participate in this program through a referral process and partnership with local schools.
