After seeing many other police explorers, sophomore Isela Perez-Kauhaihao felt excited to compete against them in the State competition.

“It was really fun, you get to meet other people that have the same interests as you from all over Minnesota,” Perez-Kauhaihao said.

Last month Perez-Kauhaihao attended Minnesota State competitions with 500 other police explorers in which they compete in different events.   

“I would say there was over 50 events and we had two different teams and each team competed in four different scenarios,” Perez-Kauhaihao said.

Officer Pam Gronski said Perez-Kauhaihao is a dedicated police explorer and does a lot to help the community.

“She goes above and beyond from what I heard from my co-workers who are the explorer advisers that she has rose through the ranks pretty fast,” Gronski said. “She even received a caring youth award this year, so that tells me she is dedicated to what she does and she does it well.”

According to Perez-Kauhaihao, she was anxious the first time she went to compete for police explorers, but has since competed twice.

“The first time I ever went I was really nervous but I think the more I attend the more the nerves go away,” Perez-Kauhaihao.

Sophomore Rosalina Sanchez said she is astounded by how dedicated Perez-Kauhaihao was training for the events for the State competition.

“I am proud of her for doing just amazing things like attending the State competitions and doing the events,” Sanchez said.  

According to Perez-Kauhaihao, the purpose of competing in State competitions is for a way to show off your abilities to police officers.

“To put yourself out there and and to show other law enforcement officers that you want to become a police officer and they would have trained really hard for it,” Perez-Kauhaihao said.

Gronski said Kauhaihao is confident and would take on any challenge that comes her way.

“I think she is very mature for her age very responsible and she ain’t afraid to stand up for herself and take charge,” Gronski said.  

Perez-Kauhaihao said she would compete in more future events until the age of 21 and accomplish her goal of becoming a police officer.

“I would like to attend to all of them until I age out because for me I would like to become a police officer,” Perez-Kauhaihao said.