“In Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, drowning surpasses all other causes of death to children 14 and under” (Infantswim.com). According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2007, there were 3,443 fatal unintentional drownings in the United States, averaging ten deaths per day! Those statistics, and recent events closer to home, raise serious concerns and the question remains, how can the school board consider closing Skyview Pool, thus limiting access to a valuable resource that is an asset to the children of this community?
Preventing drownings takes a community effort as well as access to a pool. For students who have not learned elsewhere, the school district is left mandating swimming in high school to ensure their children will be safe around water. With this said, we, as a community, must be proactive as early as possible to avoid accidents, which brings me to my final point. Soldotna Middle School is relocating to Skyview, so why don’t we take advantage of such a wonderful opportunity to teach swimming two years earlier, thus fully utilizing a valuable resource and ensuring more safety for our young people around our waterways?
I currently attend Soldotna Middle School and I will be relocating to Skyview Middle School and enthusiastically welcome the opportunity to show my classmates how rewarding swimming can truly be. I believe I am a positive role model for my 7th grade class, not only as an advanced student academically, but as a member of the Soldotna Silver Salmon Swim team.