girl scouts of the colonial coastDid you know, according to the World Health Organization, drowning is the third leading cause of accidental injury around the world? In fact, some school districts in the United States require swimming lessons and water safety education as part of their public school curriculum from an early age.
Girl Scout Ambassador Lilian recently earned the Gold Award by completing her project titled, “Supporting Safety Around Water.” Lilian has always been an advocate of water safety since a young age and wanted to share what she has learned over the years with children in her community.
“Knowing how to swim was a first grade requirement where I am from in Maryland,” Lilian said. “I was shocked to find people in Virginia Beach who don’t know how to swim or don’t know the proper safety procedures. This lack of knowledge could be life threatening.”
Lilian’s local YMCA, the Indian River Branch, has an existing water safety and swimming course for families in the community, and Lilian felt she could use her artistic skills and knowledge about swimming to highlight the program and increase attendance. She created colorful posters and age appropriate activity booklets to help kids get excited about swimming. Lilian also designed a quiz for instructors to use before and after the course to benchmark knowledge gained.
Her project was successful and she volunteered time to share information from her booklets with children at the YMCA. She was advised by the aquatics coordinator at the Indian River YMCA branch, Armando Alvarez, who said the facility and staff will continue to use her activities and quizzes in future swimming lessons.
Lilian is excited to turn sixteen years old soon so she can officially fulfill the requirements needed to become a lifeguard!
Congratulations, Lilian!
