Leslie A. Paul's Page

WOW! This group of children are the least skilled in the two years that RAPS has been in place. The sad part about this is that within bike riding distance, is a City of Norfolk pool. Hardly any of the children have ever had lessons which makes for low level swimmers at an older age. We have four groups of Level 2 swimmers - old and young, upper and lower 2's. We have just finished day 4 of this week and we still have children that will not let their feel leave the bottom of the pool. We even he… Continue

The children this week seem more comfortable in the water. They are also fearless. We have had to talk with them about daring and/or making fun of the children that do not want to jump off the diving boards. The first day we opened the boards to the kids, I had to make three rescues. I am just glad that they decided to try something like that where they were "safe".
We again have 35 children. This week, the division of classes ended up with a Level 1 class, a Level 2 class, a Level 2/3 class, an… Continue

Another great group of children from the Seatack area of Virginia Beach. We have 35 children this week, 5 instructors, 1 assistant from the Princess Anne High School IB program, and 1 lifeguard.
The children are low level swimmers this week with only a couple of Level 3's. We did have to make one rescue yesterday - one of the kids from my class (who does have an armstroke) decided to try the diving board - she went off but then went into panic mode. I was in the deep end at the time so I rescued… Continue

A great first day - kids are very well behaved although three could not come today due to a fight on Friday. I asked that the staff not withhold swim lessons from them so they will be in tomorrow. An order crowd this time. We only have 4 - 6 year olds and quite a few 10-12 year olds. The group is from two different neighborhoods this time - 15th Street and Twin Canal. Nice to see a few kids from Twin Canal from last year - they have really grown! Looking forward to another great week - We tested… Continue

The kids are great! We have 5 WSI's and Regina, who last year at this time couldn't swim at all. The kids are divided into four groups, ranging from Level 1 - Level 4. I wish we had each group longer so we could make more of a difference with them. I'm not sure which is better- shotgun effect with trying to get more kids safe or keep them longer and only have half the children, but having them swim better.
The kids seem receptive to my "Words of the Day" and after the first day they seem excited… Continue