AUSTIN, Texas — The City of Austin has felt the lack of lifeguards over the past few years. That's why the city council recently voted to renew a program at an Austin ISD school to get students trained and certified to become lifeguards.
"This program gives kids an opportunity to get their P.E. credit, learn how to swim and become lifeguard-certified by the end of the school year," said Jerry De la Huerta, a physical education coach at Akins High School, who oversees the "SwimATX" program.
The year-long swim lesson program includes a 36-hour lifeguard certification course. According to item 96 on the council's recent agenda, up to 50 students can be selected from Akins High School. Once they go through the course and get certified, they can then apply to be a City of Austin lifeguard.
"It's a great opportunity for them to work in the summer," De La Huerta said.
This past school year, De La Huerta told KVUE he was able to send about 10 kids to work for the City. That has helped the City amid lifeguard shortages.
However, it's also been of benefit to the kids. Not only do they meet their P.E. credit, but many students also learn how to swim.
"Those who tend to come in that think they know how to swim are the ones [that] struggle," De La Huerta said. "Because they already have those bad habits of not learning the correct technique to go out there and swim. So, the non-swimmers tend to be the better swimmers at the end."
De La Huerta said when the program started at Reagan High School, a majority low-income school, some students used the money to provide for their households.
"It was a struggle for them at home," he said. "Being able to provide the necessities at home for like, food and clothing and whatnot. So, seeing our kids being able to go out there and have a good job and provide that funding for them, not just help them out physically for their school needs, but also for their families."
In a statement, the City's Park and Recreation Department said the program was initially intended to help lower-income communities.
"At its conception/inception, the SwimATX program was intended to recruit a diverse workforce; introduce aquatics job opportunities to historically underserved communities, and recruit individuals from communities where the pools are located. Additionally, it provides an introduction to the lifesaving skill of swimming," the department said via email.
De La Huerta said he's also teaching the kids about money management, how to keep a job and how to communicate with managers.
The City voted to renew the program for the next four years, according to De La Huerta. Now, it's up to the Austin ISD school board to give it the final vote.
De La Huerta said with so many budget cuts in the district, it's good to see high interest in this program.