Jr. Lifeguard Camp: learning to save lives
For the past 15 years, Weeki Wachee State Park has been offering Jr. Lifeguard Camp for kids 8-14 years old.
The campers experience the daily duties as well as responsibilities of a certified lifeguard, by learning basic first aid and leadership skills.
“We teach these Jr. Lifeguard’s everything I teach my guards. So they learn professionalism, how to deal with real life situations, CPR, emergency oxygen…we teach them teamwork and team building and just being a responsible adult to groom them for the future,” Robyn Anderson said.
Robyn Anderson is the Lifeguard Instructor and the Assistant Park Manager who oversees the camp.
The camp is a week-long educational experience. Each day the campers learn different skills as a lifeguard, which include basic water rescues and advanced escape techniques.
“I like the interaction with the kids… a lot of them that go through the Jr. Lifeguard camp end up working with me when they turn sixteen,” Robyn said.
Jacob has been a lifeguard for the past 3 years at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park and this is his first year as an instructor.
“All these kids have somewhat of an interest in being a lifeguard; it’s really good to get them started young,” Jacob Murray said.
The campers are gathered into groups and each group has their own instructors. These instructors work closely with the campers to ensure the best learning experience.
“It’s very important to learn the skills in order to do what we’re doing right now. They are good at learning what they need to do, if someone is in distress. It’s really just having them prepared and to understand what they are doing,” Jacob said.
The last day of the camp is Graduation Day. The campers get to show their parents and family members what they learned during their time at Jr. Lifeguard Camp.
This camp is a great learning experience for kids, it gives them the opportunity to learn lifesaving skills as well as what it takes to be a lifeguard, and maybe one of these Jr. lifeguard graduates will be a future lifeguard at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park.
“A lot of these kids are looking for a summer job and the most perfect job is to be a lifeguard on the beach,” Robyn said. “It is a fun job, every day is different but it’s a huge responsibility,” she explained.
The Jr. Lifeguard camp is just one of the camps offered at the park. Mermaid camp is April thru August and an upcoming camp is the Jr. Ranger Camp which runs July 18 – July 22, 2016.
Weeki Wachee Springs State Park | 6131 Commercial Way Weeki Wachee, FL 34606 | (352) 592-5656 | https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/weeki-wachee | http://www.weekiwachee.com/