Published: Wednesday, Jul. 15, 2009
South County Beat: Swim program offers low-cost lessons
Teen keeps kids afloat
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closeA Nipomo High School senior is leading the seventh year of a program that aims to help disadvantaged children learn how to swim.
Missy Beedle, 17, who’s starting her senior year at Nipomo High in the fall, is carrying on the “Summer of Swim” as part of the Lucia Mar Unified School District’s swim program.
Missy’s older sister, Lisa Beedle, and her friend Margaret Martin began the program, which takes place at the Nipomo High School pool.
Beedle sends out letters to sponsors so that children who can’t afford swimming lessons are able to learn.
Sponsors pay $50 per child, and lifeguards at the pool teach lessons — which take place an hour each day for two weeks.
Children contribute $10 of their own money for a bathing suit, which is their total requested contribution in the program.
Twenty-two children, ages 5 to 12, are participating this year.
The Nipomo Youth Coalition gives annual scholarships for the swim program, and the Nipomo Family Resource Center recommended to Beedle low-income families whose children need the lessons, said Mary Squellati, the site coordinator of the Resource Center.
The Lucia Mar school district offers swim lessons to anyone from infants to high school age students at the Nipomo High and Arroyo Grande High School pools from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays.
The cost for the lessons taught by fully certified lifeguards is $85 for the general public for daily, one-hour lessons on weekdays for two weeks at a time. The maximum group is six per instructor, and classes of more than six people have at least two instructors, said Adam Sanchez, a program coordinator.
Open-swim hours at both sites are weekdays from 1 to 3:30 p.m. and the cost is $3 per person. On Friday nights, open swim is 5 to 8 p.m.
The program runs through Aug. 7. For more information, call Brandi Pascuini at 709-4979.
Arts center seeks funds
The Clark Center in Arroyo Grande is seeking donations for its endowment fund.
The center recently underwent improvements that included building an annex and dressing rooms with about $2 million of its endowment funds. Center officials say improving the center helps them attract the best performers.
The performing arts center uses the endowment funds for maintenance, updating the center, making improvements and updating its sound system, lighting and facilities, and for arts scholarships and support of the arts in general.
For details, call the Clark Center Foundation at 481-4114.
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