Students hoping to one day have a career in law enforcement were put to the test competing in St. Lawrence College’s annual “mini Olympics” on Thursday, Sept. 28.
Students enrolled in the police foundations program completed obstacles and team-building activities.
“I’ve wanted to be a police officer as early as high school and then I just never went in that direction with schooling and now I’m here,” Keith Hetherington, one of about 100 students participating in the event, said.
The event is organized by second-year police foundation students like Lance Cellini, who volunteer to become mentors for the first-year students.
“Without my mentor, I wouldn’t have gotten involved in anything,” Cellini said. “I would have just shown up to class and then gone home and done my homework and that’s it. But getting everyone involved makes them want to come to school and look forward to school.”
Among the events on the program were dodgeball, ultimate frisbee and tug of war.
Two Kingston police officers were also on hand for the games, to offer the students support.
“It’s always nice to have the students familiar with what the organization can offer and also the things that we do with the community,” Const. Josh Conner, a youth program officer said. “It can give them that different perspective on policing that they might not otherwise know exists.”
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