Submitted by the South Sound YMCA
When the third grade students from Madison got off the bus at the Downtown Y on September 24 it was hard to tell who was more excited; the Madison students or the Y staff greeting them. The Y planned and prepared for this week for months and we wanted to make sure their experience was awesome and that they learned important swimming skills. This week of free swim lessons counted towards their PE grade and we wanted all 40 of them to do well!
The results more than exceeded our expectations. With drowning as the second leading cause of death for youth (ages 2 to 14), it i important that kids know what to do in an emergency. We are thrilled that 92 percent of the participants can now return to the edge of the water or pool if they accidentally fall in and 80 percent now have the skills to swim out of a strong, open-water current. In addition, 68 percent of the kids increased their swimming ability by one full level and 15 percent increased by two levels! (A full article about the Y’s swimming program can be found here.)
The teachers were thrilled by the impact the lessons were having on the kids back in the classroom. They told us that the kids were more excited to come to school, their self-confidence increased, and that the lessons gave the students something to look forward to. On swim days, third grade attendance was near perfect.
Changes were also evident to the parents of the kids. One mom told us that her daughter came home excited and full of pride on the days she went to the Y. The girl insisted that her mom take her to the Y to show off her newly learned swimming ability!
We are grateful to our donors and the Olympia School District for their generosity in helping this program succeed.
At the Y, we believe that all kids deserve the opportunity to discover who they are and what they can achieve. That’s why, through the Y, thousands of youth in our community are cultivating the values, skills, and relationships that lead to positive behaviors, better health, and educational achievement.
For more information, visit the Y’s website.
