Along with our conceptual project work each intern has an individual project that they work on developing as well. My project, in case you haven’t guessed by the title, is the pool.
This will be my third summer of lifeguarding, and at the last campground that I worked at I had a heavy involvement and a pretty good working knowledge of the maintenance of the pool. I tested the pool chemistry, taught others the system we used for vacuuming. My life revolved around the pool.
Tim has seen me sharpen my skills over the last few years, and has been encouraging me to help think big picture wise in developing an actual aquatic program at camps. The pool is a great resource that we should be using for more then just play time. Camps are about learning and developing skills. We should incorporate programs such as swim classes for kids of all ages, a time that is just for lap swimmers, and maybe even just an adult swim.
If we work to develop our pool into a better functioning aquatic center the opportunities can be endless. In order to help point Happy Valley in the right direction I’m working on adapting and reformatting a pool manual. This manual will have employee policies, pool rules, and our expectations for the lifeguards that come to work for Happy Valley. I’m looking forward to seeing how it turns out, and hope that it can set in motion a development in an aquatic program.
From the Happy Valley Sea Otter,
-Brooke 😀
