This fall season PDFSD ~ SD Swims Grant was funded for Dewey Elementary. This grant provided swim lessons for the entire 3rd grade class at the local Ryan Family YMCA. Fifty, 3rd graders, were able to have 5 swim lessons in October and November. This was an amazing collaboration between the Dewey Elementary School Administration, SDSU School District, 3rd grade Parents and the Ryan Family YMCA.
“It was wonderful to serve the Dewey Elementary 3rd graders, to see the confidence and competence the swimmers gained throughout our time with them. Many swimmers shared how they had never done lessons before and by the last day even the beginners were brave enough to jump into the deep water! We had other huge wins with the adaptive swimmers who learned to back float, roll, and go underwater safely blowing bubbles. Our swim instructors were grateful to serve the community in this way.” – Andi H, YMCA Aquatics Director
“There was a lot of nervousness at first, especially my group the beginners, some of them have never done swim lessons before and some had never even put their face in the water before. So by the end they could all put their face in… I got everyone to do a jump in the deep end. Many of them have never even been in the deep end before so that was a huge step for them to be able to do that. I’d say my favorite part for sure was- how everybody had a good attitude, were smiling and happy to be there and had fun. This was awesome and I hope we get to do it again.” – Alex S, Swim Instructor
“I went to Dewey Elementary and we didn’t have opportunities like this, it means a lot for these kids because they don’t have the same access as others might. This was a rewarding experience because you don’t get to see the kids from these communities learn to swim often and they were just super excited every day” – Xamara A, Swim Instructor
“It was really fun, they improved so much, from the first day to today they are actually swimming!” – Sarah M, Swim Instructor
Pictures below…
