Georgia Military College (GMC) hosted the Georgia Chapter Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy Associates’ (GAFBINAA) Youth Leadership Academy July 14-19 for high school students across Georgia.
The FBI National Academy is a professional course for U.S. and international law enforcement personnel who are nominated by agency heads based on several qualifications such as education, performance, agency history, and more. Once an individual graduates, they become a member of their state chapter.
The Youth Leadership Academy is modeled after the FBI National Academy Associates’ youth program. This program focuses on eight days of intensive instruction by law enforcement training instructors in hopes of developing a community of service-minded leaders, according to the FBINAA website.
“The board of this camp went to Florida’s chapter and observed their camp last summer to gain ideas. This has been at least two years in the making,” said Brandon Sellers, director of the Georgia Public Safety Leadership Institute at GMC.
The academy held at GMC was the first of its kind for the Georgia chapter. Students applied through the GAFBINAA and were selected from the applications. Each participant was sponsored by a local or state law enforcement agency to attend the academy for free. While the program was aimed at rising sophomores, juniors and seniors, Sellers noted that the youngest participant was a rising freshman.
“This was the inaugural camp, and we were lucky enough to host it,” said Sellers. “They looked at a few different places across the state, including visiting our campus last year and liked it. Our facilities had enough room for extracurriculars, classroom instruction, and a close proximity for switching between lessons.”
Fourteen participants, including two from GMC Preparatory School, learned about a variety of topics focusing on leadership from law enforcement instructors across the state. Some of these topics included first aid, public speaking, active threats and more. Alongside classroom instruction, the camp was hands-on with activities from K9 demonstrations to participating in GMC’s obstacle course.
“The academy was a mix of classroom instruction and teaching through action and presentation. For example, students participated in a movie night and then discussed the leadership presented in the movie. Students were also able to interact with law enforcement vehicles and equipment in a safe environment,” said Sellers.
“I believe the biggest take away for many of the students was the camaraderie built between the group and learning how being a leader affects a group as a whole,” added Sellers.
For GMC, the academy was an opportunity to show off itsfacilities to law enforcement and potential future students from across the state. In addition, the academy aligns with GMC’s goal to teach about leadership and develop a community of service leaders.
“The academy was very successful. Our team and the GAFBINAA team put a lot of effort into ensuring its success. Overall, we could improve little things, but it went very well,” said Sellers.
According to Sellers, there are plans to host the camp in the future and preliminary discussions indicate that GMC may be the host again next year. To learn more about the GAFBINAA chapter, visit gafbinaa.org.