Hernando County Sheriff’s summer camp gives kids hands-on unit demos
Kids at Explorer K-8 watched K-9s, drones and SWAT gear up as Hernando deputies filled every ROAR camp session, a $25 program already full.
Hernando County Sheriff’s Office is using its summer camp to put deputies, dogs and specialty units in front of children in a setting meant to build trust as much as teach skills. At Explorer K-8 in Spring Hill, campers saw demonstrations from the K-9, Dive Team, SWAT and Drone units while all 2026 ROAR sessions were already full, showing how much demand there is for the agency’s youth outreach.
ROAR stands for Respect Others And youRself, and the day camp is open to Hernando County children ages 6 to 12 during the summer months. The Sheriff’s Office says the program is built around citizenship, leadership, cooperation, respect and environmental responsibility, with lessons delivered through games, team sports, crafts and law-enforcement-related demonstrations. The camp is offered with Eckerd Connects and the Florida Sheriffs Association.
The 2026 camp page said every session was full as of June 12, and each child may attend only one week-long session. The camp carries a $25 non-refundable fee per camper, and applications are emailed after payment is received. Session links disappear as they fill, a sign that the program has become one of the county’s more sought-after youth summer offerings.
Explorer K-8, at 10252 Northcliffe Blvd. in Spring Hill, serves more than 1,500 students, according to the school. That makes it a fitting backdrop for a program aimed at elementary and middle-school-age children in a county the Sheriff’s Office says had a population of 218,150 as of July 1, 2024, and is among Florida’s fastest-growing.
The camp also fits into a longer law-enforcement youth pipeline in Hernando County. The Sheriff’s Office says Explorer Post #409 was established in 1984 to educate young people about law-enforcement procedures through training and service. Social-media posts from previous ROAR sessions at Parrott Middle School and Powell Middle School have shown the same mix of unit demonstrations and graduations, suggesting the summer camp is part of a sustained outreach effort rather than a one-time showcase.
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