March 20, 2019

Northwest invites local youth to participate in disaster training camp

By Tara Garcia, communication assistant

Northwest Missouri State University’s Emergency and Disaster Management program is hosting “Camp CATastrophe” for high school students, ages 15-18 on June 25-28 at the Northwest campus and Mozingo Outdoor Education and Recreation Area (MOERA).

Camp CATastrophe is an overnight camp focused on leadership, teamwork and decision-making in tough situations. Campers will complete a series of challenges within a disaster scenario happening in the Maryville area and work to find solutions to problems that arise.

“This is full immersion experience,” John Carr, an instructor of emergency and disaster management, said. “When the participants step onto site, they are active within our exercise scenario. They organize their teams, make decisions, learn from mistakes and achieve successes. They will see the scenario and take action with exercise staff present to provide support and information as needed to maximize the campers’ experience. By the end of our exercises, campers will have formed highly effective teams that are able to address real-world problems with innovative solutions.”

The camp is designed to expose young adults to a broad set of careers within emergency and disaster management, recreation, math and other disciplines.

“Camp CATastrophe is a camp like no other, and we are very excited to offer this opportunity to youth in our region,” Carr said.

Individuals interested in participating can register online by visiting www.nwmissouri.edu/camps/catastrophe/. Registration is $500 per person.

Northwest’s emergency and disaster students annually participate in Missouri Hope, an intensive three-day domestic disaster relief field training exercise at MOERA. Community members and local and state responders also work in volunteer roles during the exercise.

The emergency and disaster management major at Northwest is a multidisciplinary, customizable program that focuses emergency management, humanitarian relief in conjunction with homeland security and defense.

For more information about the Camp CATastrophe contact John Carr at jcarr@nwmissouri.edu or 660.562.1008.