With the excitement of a teenager and the time-worn experience of an elder, Steve Hurvitz describes a five-day summer camp that takes young people through a free crash course in first responder training, from sitting in on mock water rescues to handling police canines.
It’s grown so popular, he says, that organizers will host it twice this summer, back to back, to keep up with demand, and hope to possibly roll out three sessions a year from now.
At the age of 84, Hurvitz might not strike the casual observer as an obvious choice for summer camp cheerleader, but few can talk up the benefits of the Learning Jet’s First Responders Camp like its founder and chairman emeritus.
Steve Hurvitz, founder and chairman emeritus of The Learning Jet’s First Responders Camp, in the retired Boeing 727-200 cargo jet that has been turned into an on-site learning laboratory at Holman Field in St. Paul on Friday April 25, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
Among his many hats, Hurvitz is a parliamentarian with the Minnesota Street Rod Association, which is a long story, and he was known as “The Zebra” in his 13 years talking high school and collegiate football on a show on WCCO-TV, which is an even longer story. In 1998, his years spent representing Division II and III college refs on the NCAA rules committee helped land him in a YMCA “Sports Legends” Hall of Fame.
“I’ve had a wonderful life — a wonderful life!” said Hurvitz, standing on the deck of a Boeing 727-200 cargo jet he keeps grounded at Holman Field, the downtown St. Paul municipal airport, outside a hangar dedicated in his honor. It’s the same type of plane legendary thief and hijacker D.B. Cooper parachuted out of in 1971, never to be seen again, says Hurvitz excitedly, before leading an impromptu tour from its cockpit back to its black box.
On-site learning laboratory
His time is limited on this particular day — there’s a storm rolling in, and as a ham radio volunteer with the National Weather Service, he has duties — but he recalls a group of developmentally disabled young people who sat down for one of his whirlwind interactive aviation seminars, which he was told to keep to no more than an hour. By the time he had answered enough questions to satisfy their interest, three hours had flown by, so to speak.
A decade ago, Hurvitz teamed with the Minnesota Association of Women in Aviation and a host of other partners, donors and volunteers to get the 153-foot Boeing and the nearby hangar ready to host summer camp. The Learning Jet’s First Responders Camp was launched in 2015 with the plane, donated by Federal Express, serving as an on-site learning laboratory.
Some nights brought him out at 1:30 a.m. to install interior paneling himself. A group of about 10 volunteers — the Learning Jet’s “tenders” — put in their own toil on the cargo jet, which once flew for Braniff Airways, said Mike Smith, a founding board member.
“We completely gutted the airplane and converted it into a classroom,” recalled Hurvitz, who retired from state employ in 2006 as assistant state director of aeronautics, the job he held after serving as assistant director of land acquisition.
Summer camp
The Learning Jet hosted 31 young people ages 15 to 20 at the donor-driven summer camp last year, and will host two free day camps this June and July, with the latter still accepting enrollees through a mid-May application deadline.
“This is the first year we’ll do two camps, and if we get enough interest, we’ll add another camp next year,” Hurvitz said. “We’re always looking for donors.”
Camp opens with a trip to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for a daylong tour through all things aviation, including a look at how firefighters put out fires aboard planes, and an introduction to airport police and airport police dogs. The second day introduces them to the work of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office and its divers, airboats and snowmobiles.
Day three involves a visit from the Minnesota Air Rescue Team, as well as a visit to the St. Paul Fire Training facility off Snelling Avenue to suit up for hands-on demonstrations of pressure hoses and the jaws of life.
On day four, a Life Link rescue helicopter lands at Holman Field to explain the work of flight nurses and paramedics, and St. Paul fire trainers get campers certified in first aid training. The final day features a tour through the work of the St. Paul Police Department, with an introduction to police canine handlers, the bomb squad, a crisis negotiator, drones and the SWAT team.
Sharing life lessons
The camp has yet to take any students airborne, though that’s not entirely out of the question.
It has taken some onto the water for demonstrations of water rescues, which are always more fun when an elected official is willing to float on White Bear Lake in a life jacket before being airlifted into the sky. Last year, students shadowing the county boat patrol sat in as two boaters received written warnings, says Horvitz, amusedly.
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He’s tracked at least a handful of former campers who have gone on to enroll in Junior ROTC or become paramedics, and at least a couple are working toward becoming firefighters. As he looks forward to his 85th birthday, Hurvitz is more than happy to share a few life lessons.
“I’ve found that the more I do, and the more fun I have, the better off things are,” he said.
