Coach Kerry joined up over the summer with Lutheran Social Services in an effort to teach refugee children to swim. Kerry met the group of approximately 50 children weekly at Wolfson High School, with volunteers from the Timuquana Yacht Club (TYC) River Rats in tow.
Kerry and her swim team volunteers jumped right in to share their swim knowledge with kids from many parts of the world, including Viet Nam, Haiti, Bosnia, Myanmar, and many African Nations.
Many of the kids learned to swim, and were thrilled with their new abilities.
Additionally, the River Rats collected and distributed fifty plus pairs of goggles. The "glasses" were a huge hit.
Kerry plans to continue helping disadvantaged youth learn to swim. She conducted a survey of the students at San Jose Elementary School -- a Title 1, English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) school -- to see who could swim "the length of the cafeteria" (about 25 yards). Approximately one half of the ESOL students, and one fourth of the neighborhood students, responded "no". Kerry has met some of these students to teach them to swim, and hopes next summer to have a more expansive swim lesson/swim team program.
If you would like to volunteer with Coach Kerry in the future, please contact her at Kwickswim@aol.com
