Police student academy graduates preparing to serve

LYNN – She will be an English High School senior next year, but Kelly Portillo wants to be a police officer, and that?s why she spent six weeks this summer waking up early enough to arrive at Breed Middle School by 9 a.m.Portillo is one of 33 Lynn teenagers to graduate during a ceremony at Breed with praise Thursday from top city officials for the dedication and discipline they exhibited while attending the Lynn Police Student Academy.Portillo is not only an academy graduate, she won academic excellence honors during the graduation ceremony.?She tried hard to make it through the academy,” her mother, Raquel Calles said. “I feel really proud of her perseverance.”Veteran Lynn Police Officers Mark Lee and Ryan McDermott led the students, starting on July 7, through an intensive look at police work. They also sprinkled field trips to the Essex House of Correction in Middleton, the State House and a Boston Harbor tour on a State Police boat in with classroom work.On Mondays, Portillo and fellow students started their day with a Marine Corps physical training workout led by Marine Master Sgt. Gerald Goncalo, who helps oversee English? Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps.Lee and McDermott said the tough workouts and punctuality and attendance requirements whittled the academy class down from 45 students to 33 graduates.?These kids did not quit. They stuck with it. It shows a lot of dedication,” McDermott said.The academy has graduated nine classes in past years and its focus, said Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy, is personal growth. She told the graduates how much the six-week program changed them.?I remember seeing you on Day One, nervous and afraid to make eye contact. Everyone who had anything to do with this turned you from teenagers into young men and women,” Kennedy said.Jayne Collibee watched daughter, Amelia, graduate Thursday, and said she is thrilled her daughter?s academy experience is underscoring her interest in joining the Air Force.?I knew this was something to help me achieve my goals,” Amelia Colibee said.Other academy graduate honorees are Joel Aguero, athletic excellence; Roy Marsters and Kaylee D?Eon, unsung heroes; and Amelia Ferreras and Matthew Morrill, outstanding cadets.?You have made us very proud. This is a premier program in the city of Lynn,” School Superintendent Catherine Latham told the graduates.D?Eon said the academy taught her responsibility and gave her self-confidence.?We have proven to ourselves we are stronger than we might think,” she said.