PORT ANGELES — The William Shore Memorial Pool District, in partnership with the Port Angeles School District and Olympic Medical Center, has won the Innovative Program of the Year Award from the Washington Recreation & Park Association.
The award was given for the public pool’s Everybody Swims program.
The creation of the program was prompted after three drownings took place in Clallam County in 2015, according to Steven D. Burke, executive director of the William Shore Memorial Pool at 225 E. Fifth St.
“We wanted to invest in the kids of our district to ensure they are safe around water,” Burke said.
“We have too much water around us for our kids not to know how to swim.”
In the first year of the program, the William Shore Memorial Pool District has taught more than 320 children how to swim.
A program with no cost had never been attempted before in the state of Washington.
The program is done as part of the Port Angeles School District physical education program and focuses on children in the second grade.
All children are given lessons based upon their ability to swim.
The Everybody Swims program was part of the Washington Recreation & Park Association’s annual conference.
It competed for the award against all recreation programs in the state of Washington.
The Washington Recreation & Park Association, established in 1947, is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) professional and public interest organization composed of about 1,500 members.
