On Tuesday afternoon in a nearly-filled attendance in Gustine City Council Chambers, five senior students members from the Gustine Police Department Explorer program were recognized for their accomplishments in the beginning of the meeting.
The program, currently with 20 students, focuses on building a path to encourage young people to focus on their future and to become successful adults after high school. Students can join the program, even if they’re not pursuing a career in law enforcement, said Gustine Police Chief Ruben Chavez.
“Too many times our youth … lose focus once they graduate high school,” Chavez said. “You’re going through this transition, we want you to become successful adults.”
Some of the activities performed include handling traffic control in the city’s events and Pebble Peach in Del Monte Forest and police training that include interacting with residents.
Prior to acknowledging the individual students, Officer Arthur Rincon began Tuesday’s meeting with opening remarks about the program’s performance against other Merced County’s explorers program in a competition last month, where Gustine finished second and third place in vehicle stop and shoot house competitions, respectively. Rincon later praised each of the senior students for their accomplishments and contribution to the program.
“Programs like this matter, they give young people a chance to challenge themselves and grow,” Rincon said. “This job isn’t for everyone, but the ones standing here today are showing that they are willing to step up for the challenge.”
The five senior students, afterwards, stood in front of the attendees and were greeted by Mayor Patrick Nagy. Nagy greeted each of them with congratulations and offered them a handshake and put a graduation stole. Upon receiving the stole, each student reflected on their time with the program and their plan after high school.
Yasmin Ruiz, the longest tenured member, spoke first and said she wants to become an alternate teacher. She added that she plans to attend Merced College and would like to get involved in Emergency Medical Technician (EMT).
Hazelmarie Lopez also plans to attend Merced College and to major in Mathematics. She hopes to later transfer to California State University, Monterey Bay. She plans on either becoming a math teacher or attending law school to become an attorney.
Oscar Vergara Vazquez, who’s also a student representative for Gustine Unified Board of Trustees, said he will attend UC Davis as an English major to become an English teacher. He added he hopes to teach at Gustine High, and wants to pursue a masters degree later on to become a community college professor. Regara concluded his remarks by giving gratitude for what the program has meant to him for two years.
Madeline Villnow was emotional in her speech as she held back from shedding her tears. She plans on attending UC Davis to major in marine and coastal science with a minor in environmental policy.
Lastly, Bella Glassman said she plans to attend Fresno State University, where she’ll major in criminology to become a coroner.
