Water safety at the pool
By Rossland Recreation
Having a local pool in Rossland has become increasingly important for our community, with the recent regional recreation dispute and increasingly warm summer weather.
The pool is an important option for the children in the community to recreate in the summer but more importantly, to learn how to swim and to develop good judgement in and around water. Learning these skills is a life safety issue – it is the number two cause of accidental death in children, age 15 and under. Teaching children to swim is a rewarding profession that teaches valuable life safety skills. Swimming Instructors are in high demand in our region – the courses required to become a Swimming Instructor are offered through the Red Cross and hosted by the many of the Aquatic Facilities in our area.
The AWSI (Assisted Water Safety Instructor) and WSI (Water Safety Instructor) are two separate courses that cover the foundation of instructional skills including teaching methods, learning styles, physical principles, progressions, communications, safety supervision and feedback. The AWSI is a forty hour course that includes eight hours of assisted teaching and individual study assignments. Candidates need to be 15 years old to register for this course.
The WSI (Water Safety Instructor) course is a 40 hour course that focuses on how to effectively plan, teach, and evaluate the performance criteria of the Red Cross Swim Kids program. The course emphasizes stroke development, drills, and corrective strategies and provides Instructor candidates with opportunities to apply their teaching skills and knowledge through hands on teaching assignments.
There are many opportunities for part time Swim Instructors in our area and not just for local Youth. Being an adult Swimming Instructor is a challenging and enjoyable profession that can provide rewards for the Instructor and the Student. If you would like more information about the AWSI and WSI courses, please contact the Recreation Department or log on to the Red Cross website.
A NEW Playground for Rossland!!
The new RSS playground is being installed August 24, 25 and 26. Work is already underway by the City of Rossland to prepare the site. The next phase is a community installation of the playground. Then in September the rubber base for the playground will be poured and the playground will be open for use. The grade 6 and 7 students at RSS have been without a playground for years and are excited about the prospect of having a place to play. The playground will also be an important community asset for years to come.
The playground has been made possible through the generous grants and in-kind donations provided by the Ministry of Education, Tire Stewardship BC, School District No. 20, City of Rossland, Nelson and District Credit Union, Teck, the RSS Parent Advisory Council and MacLean Parent Advisory Council. The playground subcommittee of the three Rossland School Parent Advisory Councils would like to thank these donors for their contributions. The playground would not have been possible without them.
Despite these generous donations, the playground subcommittee was not able to raise quite enough money for a professional installation of the playground. As a result, it was decided to do a community installation of the playground. Volunteers are needed to assist with this important and valuable asset for the community.
Rossland was founded on volunteerism….the Pool was built by volunteers, Golden City Days, Winter Carnival, Gold Fever Follies, Red Mountain Racers, BlackJack Cross Country Ski Club, the Lions….Rossland is great because of volunteerism!! If you enjoy Rossland and everything it has to offer, consider paying it forward. There are many, many new people in the community and the majority are young families. Please consider volunteering for this important weekend – your children and all the community’s children will thank you! If you are able to volunteer, please contact Jennifer Ellis at rosslandvss@gmail.com.
The Rossland Pool is celebrating its 80th Birthday this summer! To celebrate the historic pool, the Recreation Department has created a video that can be viewed on YouTube. Type in “Rossland Pool – 80th Birthday” into the search bar – and enjoy! If you have photos, videos or newspaper articles you would like to add to the video, please contact our office at 250-362-2327 or by email at recreation@rossland.ca. We’ll continue to add to the video all summer and release the final version at the Birthday Party Bash on Wednesday, August 15. During Public Swim, from 1:00-4:00pm the Pool Staff will be organizing games and contests for the kids. The Marlins Swim Club will enjoy some races from 6:00-6:30pm and then at 8:00pm the Pool will be hosting a floating movie night.
