March 29, 2024

Water safety for everyone

Newton YMCA’s SAW program teaches second-graders how to be safe in the water

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As she watched students from Thomas Jefferson Elementary school swim in the YMCA’s pool, Rhonda Robson couldn’t help it — she was grinning from ear to ear. Robson, Newton YMCA associate executive director, was watching the first group of students participating in SAW, an acronym for Safety Around Water, a program that Robson helped get underway at the YMCA.

“This has been a dream of mine for years,” Robson said.

The program, which will takes second-graders from all of Newton’s four elementary schools, as well as students from Newton Christian Academy, is designed to teach young swimmers the basics of water safety. Robson said research shows drowning is the second highest cause of death in children 12 years of age or younger was a factor in her decision to create the program. Working together in a partnership with the school district, along with a grant from United Way, Robson is hoping to keep the program going for years to come.

“In 12 years, I hope every child will have some kind of aquatic safety,” Robson said.

Each group of second graders are bused over from their respective schools for eight different lessons, with each lesson lasting 30 minutes. During that time, children learn the basics of water safety and get comfortable in the pool. To shrink the class sizes so swim teachers at the YMCA aren’t overloaded, gym teachers and classroom teachers accompany the students, and they alternate gym time with the swimming lessons.

“It’s been a great success, we just wanted to get kids to not be afraid of the water in a safe, nurturing environment,” Robson said.

Robson said she’s long been aware of the many barriers keeping children from receiving swimming lessons, including issues with costs, transportation and time. She’s hoping this program will put every student on the same footing as they learn how to be safe swimmers. An initial grant from the United Way of Jasper County in the amount of $5,500 went toward covering the costs associated with transportation. The total cost of the program is $26,780 which the YMCA has covered and Robson said she’s hopeful a partner in the community will step up to keep the program going.

“I have reapplied for a grant, the program is more costly than we’d expected, so I’ve asked for more money, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen,” Robson said. “It’s not sustainable without a partner.”

Robson said she believes the program is too important not to continue, something Thomas Jefferson principal Trisca Mick echoed on Friday as well. Without this program, Mick said many of her students might not able to receive this training.

“The big thing with all of this is, if we save one life, if one kid doesn’t have a bad experience, then it was all worth it,” Mick said. “This is a great way to partner with the YMCA and the community.”

Heidi Woollums, who teaches physical education at Thomas Jefferson said partnering with the YMCA has been a great experience for her as well as for her students. As the P.E. teacher, Woollums travels with the students to the YMCA, and she runs the activities that the students do while they wait their turn to swim.

“It’s an amazing opportunity, we’re very lucky to have Rhonda there to write the grant and give our kids this opportunity,” Woollums said.

Woollums said while some students were initially nervous to get into the water, she’s seen all of them come around as they reach the end of the sessions this week. She’s thrilled to see her students learning about water safety, and Woollums said their confidence around the water has grown by leaps and bounds. Like Mick and Robson, Woollums said she’s hoping the project will continue as well.

“It’s amazing to me, bigger schools have a pool on site, but I never thought that we’d be able to do something like this,” Woollums said.

Contact David Dolmage at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or ddolmage@newtondailynews.com