For three weeks every Wednesday and Thursday in February, roughly 20 Powell High School students taught 55 Westside Elementary School third graders everything from how to blow bubbles to how to use the starting blocks at the Powell Aquatic Center. 

For Luke Robertson, this is the fruit of an idea 16 years in the making. The Westside physical education teacher said he has wanted to teach a swim unit since he first began teaching at Westside Elementary.

Planning the unit

The unit that took place Feb. 7-22 took so long to come to fruition in part because it needed to have enough swim instructors during the day and both Westside and PHS would need to have schedules that worked together.

This year Robertson has also focused more of his teaching on other lifetime activities like fishing and disc golf. 

So, Robertson reached out to one of the high school’s physical education teachers, Charli Fluty, to see if she would be willing to collaborate. He also reached out to Jerry Rodriguez, the Piranha’s coach, for recommendations on instructors. Then, he worked with Fluty and Rodriguez to develop levels for the swim plans and training for the high school students. Robertson came in at the end of a Swim America practice and filmed the instructors demonstrating skills — these were then put online by Fluty for her students to view. 

When it came time to choose high school students based on Rodriguez’s recommendations, Fluty looked at grades and attendance to see if the student would be able to participate. In exchange for their help, Fluty and Robertson offered volunteer hours and Robertson bought the amateur coaches coffee cards. The icing on the cake was a thank you letter to each coach from Westside third graders. 

“They were willing to volunteer their time and go do it, and I got a lot of positive feedback from PHS staff too, when I sent out the emails … all of the staff response was really positive,” Fluty said. “They were excited that we were doing this and collaborating. I never had one negative comment from another staff member. They were all really positive.”

So, how’d it go?

The unit was a positive experience for the students at both levels.

Peyton Borcher’s students were initially in the beginning level but quickly moved up. Their initial list of skills took them about 15 minutes, she said with a smile.

“For some people, it was chaotic. For me, my kids were like angels,” Borcher said. “So I quite enjoyed my group.”

Borcher’s group covered a “little above basics” she said. They worked on the arms for freestyle, breathing techniques, flutter kicks and going underwater. 

Borcher teaches swim lessons through the Powell Aquatic Center — right now she works with 4-year-olds in the level one group. 

“The stuff that we teach for level one is like the medium group and so third graders learn that stuff a lot easier than 4- or 5-year-olds,” Borcher said. “They have a better concept of listening.”

Aubree Fisher, another PHS student and volunteer, also teaches Swim America lessons. Fisher, who swims the 100 breaststroke for the high school team, enjoyed being able to see the younger students enjoy her sport.

As a member of the swim team, Fisher said she advocates for people to join, in her opinion the sport can be overlooked.

“So I really like to see other people try it and have a love for it,” Fisher said.

The advanced groups learned strokes like butterfly and breaststroke, starts and flip turns, Borcher and Fluty said. 

“I think this program was great. I think that this should 100% be continued on, because not only do you get the success … but also there are kids that can’t normally get the privilege of learning how to swim. I think swimming is an essential skill in life,” Borcher said. 

Both Roberston and Fluty thought the program went well. 

The third graders were able to have role models through working with the instructors and the high schoolers were able to provide that role modeling and develop skills, he said. 

Another benefit is that it gave students exposure to teaching and coaching.

“Luke and I are always looking to bring more kids into our profession … that gives them some exposure to working with kids,” Fluty said, adding, “We love exposing kids to that idea and that profession, and I think it’s super, super valuable, that they’re able to do that.”

She said people also learn something at a deeper level by teaching it rather than just being able to do it.

It takes a village

The program was an undertaking and there were many thank you’s owed. Robertson thanked his students’ parents, Westside Principal Angela Woyak and high school Principal Tim Wormald for “helping to make the unit a reality.” He also thanked the teachers for “donating their class time,” mentioning Westside music teacher Emily Andrews in particular.

He thanked the Powell High School students for their time, and the Powell Aquatic Center for space to hold the program and for its support.

“I’m just really grateful that we have the support from all levels, whether it’s the Aquatic Center because they had to do a lot of work on this too, and Luke and the third grade teachers and admin at all levels, and I know that a lot of the admin came and observed,” Fluty said. “So I think it’s just I’m just really grateful that we were able to do it and grateful for the kids for their time. I think it’s something really cool that benefited a lot of kids.”