The Roeper School Concludes “Make A Splash” Program
By: Mark Winter
More than 70 children participated in this year’s program aimed at teaching minority children how to swim.
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich., August 23, 2011 – Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based The Roeper School, a co-educational day school for gifted children, concluded its “Make A Splash” program, a national child-focused water safety initiative of the USA Swimming Foundation, on Friday, August 19, 2011. More than 70 children attended this year’s program, doubling the overall attendance from last year. Roeper Head of School Philip Deely made the announcement.
The swimming lessons, which cost $10 per child, were offered to minority and low-income families, the same groups that have the highest number of drownings each year. The program provided each child with goggles, a swim cap and an hour of instruction every weekday beginning Monday, August 15 through Friday August, 19 at the Roeper School Pool, located at 41190 Woodward Ave. The children received individual instruction provided by certified swimming teachers and swim safety training from the U.S. Coast Guard. To wrap up the program, a presentation was also given by the Michigan African American Scuba Club on Friday to demonstrate to children where a love for swimming can take them in the future.
“Make a Splash” is a national child-focused water safety initiative created by the USA Swimming Foundation in 2007. The initiative aligns the nation’s top learn-to-swim resources in an effort to raise awareness of water safety and provide opportunities for all children, especially those of African American and Hispanic descent, to learn how to swim. The nationwide initiative offers low-cost swim lessons to reduce the number of unnecessary drowning deaths in minority and low-income children. The program has helped over 300,000 minority children nationally learn how to swim.
Click here to view and download photos from the “Make A Splash” program
Founded in 1941, The Roeper School is a uniquely personalized, coeducational school for gifted and talented children in preschool through grade 12 from over 60 communities in southeast Michigan. With campuses in Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Roeper was conceived on founding principles that recognize the power of education, choice and self-expression, and the transformative impact these principles have on young minds. For more information, please visit www.roeper.org.
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