Whiz Kids: Members of the Tuckahoe Police Explorer Cadets

Each week, Bronxville-Eastchester Patch highlights the great work and accomplishments of local kids in the Whiz Kids column.

 Names: Katie Tague, 17;  Alex Fitzpatrick, 16;  and Zack Leone, 17

Schools: Ursuline School senior, Tuckahoe High School sophomore and senior, respectively

Accomplishment:  Training to be the next generation of law enforcement officers.

Key to Awesomeness:

The Village of Tuckahoe's Police Explorer Cadets Post program, established in 2008, trains young people who are interested in a career in law enforcement. Currently, there are 12 students in the program, who learn by taking part in real-life police work and training.

"The program gives teenagers the opportunity to challenge themselves and develop skills that they will use for the rest of their live," said  Lt. Margaret Belles, who oversees the Tuckahoe program. 

The teens get to go out into the community to take part in hands-on police work.

"One thing we've done is the bike safety day," said Sgt. Alex Fitzpatrick. "We help the officers set up things and hand things out to little kids. It's important for us to do it because it shows that the police department is involved in the community, and it's good on our part because it shows that the youth is an active part of the community."

Students quickly develop leadership skills during the training.  A number of teens, such as Zack Leone,  have been promoted up the ranks in the post.

"I am the lieutenant and I've been here for four years," Leone said. "When I first came here I really had no idea what I was doing. As I've grown here, I've become more of a leader than a follower, which is good because what is needed everyday is that you can't be afraid to give an order out, or to step to the beat of someone else's drum, because you are going to get pushed around.  You have to learn to be an individual and being a leader is how you are going to make it in a lot of situations."

Building relationships and teamwork are two key pillars of the explorer cadets' work ethic.

"I would recommend being an explorer cadet to anyone, because you get to know the officers really well, and you get to form mentoring relationship with them," said Katie Tague. "You get to make new friends, experience a lot of new things, and learn about yourself, too. Teamwork is very important. Many of the things we do, you can't do them on your own. You need a partner or someone to help you out. It's nice to know someone always has your back."