By ALEXANDRA BISSONNETTE Special to the Daily Press
PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITY While some 16-year-old girls spend their summer afternoons at the Third Street Promenade willing away the hours shopping and talking about school yard crushes, Alexis Cornejo is working up a sweat with the Santa Monica Police Department Explorer Post 709 — and that hard work is paying off.
Cornejo, the only female member of Post 709, took second place among all females in an obstacle course at the Channel Islands Explorer Competition in late June. She was competing against explorers representing 30 posts from five states.
“I wasn’t nervous,”Cornejo, dressed in her neatly pressed, light blue uniform, said last week during an interview at the Public Safety Facility. “I was anxious to do the course. I have been waiting two years to do it.”
The obstacle course included push-ups, pulling a 150 pound dummy, hurdles, army crawls, and many more physically challenging events.
In addition to Cornejo’s second place victory, her team took third place in three events: bus assault, relay race, and hostage rescue. The team’s success in the bus assault challenge was particularly impressive as they had no prior knowledge of the event and had only a few minutes before the competition to practice, Cornejo said.
An average afternoon for the explorers includes a detailed inspection of their uniforms, marching practice, a test of their knowledge of penal codes and the department, and a meeting. While this may not sound like every teen’s favorite extra-curricular activity, there is a certain appeal that keeps young people coming, said SMPD Lt. Darrell Lowe, who supervises the explorers.
“The basis of the post is to instill confidence, community involvement and pride in young people,” Lowe said. “It is a way for us to give back to the youth of the community.”
Cornejo credits her brother with encouraging her to join the program. He enrolled and she started attending the meetings, eventually deciding that she liked what the program had to offer. Officer Bobby Villegas has also lent a helping hand, guiding Cornejo when she needed direction.
“He has always been there for me,” Cornejo said. “He explains things and helps me out. He actually got me into the program.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 21, 2008. Read the original PDF.