Explorers Post 1658 earns medals at competition

Friday, May 9, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Submitted photo Charles County Sheriff’s Office Explorers and advisers who made the trip to Memphis, Tenn., for the Explorers Olympics include advisers Lori Windsor, left, and Cpl. Rhett Calloway, Explorers Kateria Yates, Joseph Hughes, Andrea Duckett, Victor Kavaky and Shannon O’Hara, and advisers Sgt. Bill Donley and Officer Erin Horton. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

ITT Technical Institute of Cordova hosted the competition.

Five Charles County Explorers –– Andrea Duckett, Joseph Hughes, Victor Kavaky, Shannon O’Hara and Kateria Yates –– competed in the Olympic games against 75 other Explorers from Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky and Arkansas as well as ITT-Tech criminal justice students.

As a team, the Charles Explorers placed first in the crime scene competition. Yates also placed first in the paintball targets competition. Kavaky and O’Hara earned second place awards in the best-dressed category. In the knowledge bowl competition, Kavaky earned second place and O’Hara earned third. Duckett and Kavaky earned third place in the burglary competition.

In the domestic disturbance competition, Hughes, Kavaky and Yates placed second and Duckett and O’Hara placed third.

Sgt. Bill Donley, Cpl. Rhett Calloway, officer Erin Horton and Lori Windsor, a civilian adviser, accompanied the Explorers on the trip.

‘‘I am very proud of our Explorers,” said Sheriff Rex W. Coffey (D) in a press release. ‘‘All the skill and determination they have demonstrated at their age gives me high hopes for their future law enforcement careers.”

The team of Explorers will participate in a national competition in Fort Collins, Colo., in July.

Explorer Post 1658 offers young people between 14 and 20 who are interested in law enforcement the opportunity to learn about police work and acquire skills used by policeofficers.

Explorers participate in community service events, fingerprinting, traffic and crowd control assignments, neighborhood crime watch events and searches for lost children. Other activities include the National Explorer Conference, ride-alongs with sheriff’s deputies, an annual awards banquet and group trips to Georgetown Hoyas games, Washington Capitals games, the National Zoo, Six Flags and Gilbert Run Park. Explorers have also traveled to New York through an Explorer exchange program with the New York City Police Department.

For more information about Explorers, go to www.ccso.us.