Swimming? In April? Aren’t the pools still closed? Luckily for the students at City Academy, the indoor pool at the Mathews-Dickey Boys’ and Girls’ club is open year-round! For the past 10 years, the American Red Cross St. Louis Area Chapter has partnered with City Academy, a private, independent elementary school located in north St. Louis city to provide swim lessons for their students as part of the PE curriculum. 

 

This year, 66 junior and senior kindergarteners, first and second graders are making a splash as they dive in to learning a variety of swimming skills. From water adjustment to stroke development and general water safety, everyone is having fun while acquiring a wonderful life skill. 

 

At first, most of the students felt like a fish out of water as they practiced getting in and out of the pool, blowing bubbles and learning to trust their instructors. With such a young audience sometimes an entire lesson is spent on activities such as putting faces in the water or learning to glide from one point to another. Experienced Water Safety Instructors Susan DeWitt, Marla Johnson, Karen Koshak and Ed Mansour are both patient and exhausted by the time the last group is finished for the day. Not to worry though, these instructors have a trick or two up their sleeves (or swim suits as it were) to help each child progress through the skills. 

 

Now that we’re finished with the first of three weeks, we’ve found that nobody wants to get out of the pool once they get in! There are cries of “Watch me do this” and “Just one more time, please!” coming from each of the groups as students stall on their way to the locker rooms. 

 

Second grade teacher, Mrs. Z, has extended the lessons to her classroom with little reminders of how everyone can use their arms and legs while swimming along with blowing bubbles and blinking eyes to keep out the water. She even sent a letter home to parents encouraging them to help everyone practice during bath time. Thanks, Mrs. Z!

 

Swimming is such an important skill, and we’re glad we can help each of these students discover it at such an early age. It’s exciting and heartwarming to see everyone as they learn something new and gain confidence along the way. Past participants joined swim teams and become lifeguards after their exposure to swimming through this program. You never know, we may be teaching a future Olympian!

 

Stephanie