Reading, writing, arithmetic and ... swimming: Hampton second graders get free lessons at the Aquaplex

Scrunched up faces and splashing feet filled the Hampton Virginia Aquaplex as students from two elementary schools learned to hold their breath underwater and work on their kicks. They were participating in a new Learn to Swim program offered to all division second graders.

Launched in January, it’s a partnership between the city and the school division and is free to each of the more than 1,300 public-school second graders.

Pat Thompson, curriculum leader for health and wellness education in Hampton, said the program is going well.

“To watch the kids progress from the first lesson to the fifth lesson, it’s remarkable,” she said.

Thompson said a significant portion of the students do not know how to swim, according to results from a survey sent to parents last year. Those students start out just learning to put their heads in the water, and progress to being able to float on their backs and learn basic strokes and kicks.

“We’re not creating Olympic swimmers, we’re trying to give them some water safety skills,” she said.

Each group of students receives five consecutive days of lessons at the Aquaplex. The program is treated like a field trip, with parents required to submit permission slips and buses taking the kids to and from the facility. It will run through May to give a turn to each of the division’s 20 schools that house second graders.

Last week, students from Albert W. Patrick III Elementary and Mary W. Jackson Elementary schools attended two sessions at the Aquaplex, where they were divided by skill levels. The students are continually assessed, and as they master skills they can move to a new level within the same class session.

Jihan Minson is the director of the Coast Guard Blue Dolphins swim program, whose coaches are serving as the instructors for the Hampton program.

“We do what we do because so many kids drown,” said Minson, who said the purpose of the lessons is to make sure kids have the skills to be able to save themselves if they fall into the water. Drowning is a leading cause of death for children ages 1-14, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Minson added that she has seen a disparity in who learns to swim.

“I grew up swimming, swam in college, was a college athlete, and there are no minorities in the sport,” she said. “And so I feel that everybody deserves that opportunity to swim, whether you can afford it or whether you can’t. And we run scholarship programs for people that can’t afford swim lessons, on top of the second grade program, so that everybody in this area can swim and be water safe.”

School officials said the program is open to every second grade student. One student who is on a swim team received one-on-one instruction during her week so she could continue to progress.

The program is also open to students with special needs, and Minson said many of the instructors have hours of training in adaptive swimming techniques and know how to work with students who have autism, cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, muscular dystrophy or other disabilities.

School officials said the cost to the division this year is $50,000. City officials previously said their cost was $100,000 for the year. Thompson said city officials are seeking sponsorships to continue the program.

Crystal Gregory Barnes was at the Aquaplex on Wednesday to watch her granddaughter swim.

“I was apprehensive at first,” Barnes said. Her granddaughter entered the program without knowing how to swim, and Barnes and the child’s mother did not feel comfortable having her in the water without one of them present.

“But after the first day I was impressed with how organized it is,” Barnes said, adding that her granddaughter was already in level 3 after just two days in the program.

Barnes said her granddaughter has been excited about the lessons, happily waking up earlier each morning to be ready.

“I was thinking it was more like play time, but she’s actually learning safety techniques, learning what not to do around the water, learning how to help somebody,” she said.

Jen Obstein, a second grade teacher at Patrick Elementary, said her students have been thrilled.

“A couple of kids were yelling, ‘It’s like we’re on vacation!’ “ she said.

Fourteen of Obstein’s 18 students are participating. A few students were nervous the first day — a couple cried before getting in the water — but Obstein said they left happy and excited to return the next day.

“It’s a great opportunity for them,” she said. “Living so close to water, you obviously want to make sure that they are safe and they know what to do.”

Jaxon Mohajerin, 8, is a student at Jackson Elementary. He said he already knew how to swim, but enjoyed coming to the lessons.

“I learned how to lay on my back putting my hands out, floating” he said.

Before getting in the pool, Jaxon’s attention was caught by some divers from a swim team in a different pool.

He wants to be able to dive like them some day.

Nour Habib, nour.habib@virginiamedia.com