They could have been spending one of the last remaining weeks of summer vacation relaxing at the beach or seeing movies with their friends. Instead, seventy-five high school students from Palm Beach County, the Treasure Coast and southwest Florida traded their iPods and cell phones for the military-style discipline of Gulf Stream Council Learning for Life's 2008 Law Enforcement Exploring Academy held August 3 - 9, 2008.
The young men and women, all participants in Learning for Life's Exploring program, got a taste of what they might experience if they entered a policing career. The youth were sponsored by sheriff's offices in Indian River, Martin, Palm Beach, Charlotte and Lee counties and well as police departments in Stuart, Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, West Palm Beach and Clewiston.
As the Explorers arrived at Tanah Keeta Scout Reservation in south Martin County, veteran law enforcement drill instructors barked out orders. Quickly forming the youth into platoons, officers directed participants to barracks or cabins to organize their sleeping quarters.
Drill instructors roused the Explorers each morning before dawn for physical training. After breakfast, participants attended classes on topics including law, community policing, arrest techniques, firearms familiarization, accident investigation and crime scene investigation. Advanced participants, those who had attended the academy before, also learned about weapons of mass destruction and received introduction to SCUBA diving. All Explorers completed the Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience. COPE is a series of physical and mental challenges involving climbing, balancing, jumping and rappelling designed to develop self-confidence, leadership and teamwork.
As the week progressed, Explorers learned to meet expectations. They took responsibility for keeping their quarters in order, cleaning up the dining hall after meals and maintaining their latrine and shower areas. Parents visiting during the week videotaped with amusement the disciplined environment in which their sons and daughters found themselves. Some marveled at the neatness of the sleeping quarters at the academy compared to their youngsters' bedrooms at home.
Area law enforcement agencies provided live action demonstrations. A helicopter from the Martin County Sheriff's Office landed at the camp so Explorers could interview the pilot and inspect the aircraft up close. Investigators from the Jupiter Police Department reproduced a crime scene using a life-sized skeleton impaled with a knife. On the parade ground, members of the West Palm Beach Police Department's K-9 unit put heir dogs to the test, while the bomb squad offered an explosive demonstration on the rifle range.
The week culminated in a graduation ceremony at the City Council Chambers in Jupiter. The standing-room-only crowd watched as their sons and daughters, decked out in Class-A uniforms, marched to their seats. The audience saw video highlights of the week and listened while Explorers shared their personal experiences. The keynote speaker, West Palm Beach Police Chief Delsa Bush, congratulated the Explorers and encouraged them to continue with their education. By doing so, the chief said, Explorers could achieve whatever they desired in life.
In concluding the ceremony, the cadre of drill instructors offered one final tribute to the Explorers: Twenty push-ups of their own!
Gulf Stream Council Learning for Life offers character development and career education programs that support schools and other organizations in their efforts to prepare youth to successfully handle the complexities of contemporary society and to enhance their self-confidence, motivation, and self-esteem. Exploring is Learning for Life's worksite-based career education program for young men and women aged 14 through 20. Organizations sponsor Explorer posts by matching their people and program resources to the interests of young people in their communities. The result is a program of activities that helps youth grow and develop while pursuing their career interests.
The Gulf Stream Council provides Exploring and other Learning for Life programming in Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, Okeechobee and parts of Glades and Hendry Counties. Organizations or individuals interested in supporting or learning more about Exploring may contact the Gulf Stream Council's Learning for Life office at 888-GSC-LFL0 (888-472-5350).