Junior Academy gives Grants youth a taste of responsibility

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — In its third year, the Junior Officer Law Enforcement Training academy has grown to 42 Grants High School students and one Los Alamitos Middle School pupil.

James Martin, of Bluewater Lake, has three teenagers in the academy which began Saturday and runs through March 30 at New Mexico State University-Grants.

“I wanted them to learn about responsibility and what the real world is like,” he said.

Brenston Martin, 17, a senior at Grants High School, said he is entering his third year at the academy.

“My first year was really good experience” Brenston said. “I was a little nervous, and I learned it is not as easy as I thought being a police officer was.”

Brenston said he learned a lot about the law and when he became a platoon leader, he learned to think about members of his team and not put himself first.

Better grades

The academy has helped him learn to be more disciplined about studying and staying awake in class, he said.

“At the academy if you start to fall asleep, they make you get up and do 20 push ups,” he said.

That has translated into staying awake more in his high school classes and has helped improve his grades, he said.

Jennifer Morgan, 17, Brenston’s sister and a senior at Grants High School and a second year cadet at the Junior Officer Law Enforcement Training academy, said she did not want to take part in the academy but her parents insisted.

“I do not want to be a police officer, I want to be an accountant, but this has helped me with my grades at school,” she said.

“I am learning life lessons, what it is to be a police officer and after visiting the prison, I know how scary that can be, with all the gang members,” she said.

Jennifer will be participating in all the activities this week, including taking on an obstacle course in Rehoboth, called “The Ropes Course,” and learning how to shoot firearms at a shooting range.

Samantha Morgan, 18, a senior at GHS also Brenston’s sister, said this will be her third year just like Brenston.

“I learned what police officers do on a traffic stop, how to approach a vehicle, police codes and how to shoot an AR-16,” she said.

Samantha said the week long academy, presented each year during spring break, has also helped with raising her grades.

“I try to talk to the other students at school, who don’t like cops, to try to tell them what it is all about, but they don’t want to hear what I say,” she said.

Brainchild

The academy is the brainchild of New Mexico State Police Officer Anthony Molina who thought a similar Gallup academy for younger students could be successful in Grants as a high school academy.

“I wanted to give students a taste of what law enforcement is all about and use this as a recruiting tool,” he said.

Molina said one former student-cadet is now a dispatcher with the regional dispatch center and plans to apply to become a police officer soon.

NMSU-Grants endorses the academy, offering three college credits for attending the course and Grants High School gives each student a half credit toward graduation, Molina said,.

Area law enforcement agencies, Grants Police, Cibola County Sheriff’s Department and Western New Mexico Correctional Facility provide staffing and support, Molina said.

Grants Police Sgt. John Castenada said second and third year cadets have been promoted to sergeant and lieutenant, respectively.

Castenada said uniforms, which include shorts, pants and boots are provided to each cadet at a cost of about $140 each, and they are allowed to keep the clothes at not cost to them. The week’s expenses, including lunches and snacks, and uniforms, is about $18,000.

There is no cadet commander. Law enforcement agencies have looked at establishing that position, but not yet, he said.

Graduation is at 5 p.m., Sunday at NMSU-Grants and is open to the public.

Information: Grants police, (505) 287-2984; NMSP, Milan substation, (505) 287-4377.

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin call (505) 287-2197 or e-mail: jtiffin.independent@yahoo.com.