Logan Jenkins is swimming as part of his physical education class. Fifth graders at Eugene Brooks Intermediate School are being bused to an indoor pool at Maplebrook School in Amenia to swim during the school day.

“I’m having a lot of fun,” said Jenkins. “I just like swimming, swimming with my friends, and it’s a good opportunity to learn how to swim.”

Kathleen Howard and Christopher Osterman, district physical education teachers, and teacher Benjamin Mahler, serve as instructors in the three-week unit being piloted by fifth graders.

“I was a lifeguard for 22 years and now being able to actually swim within our physical education unit, I’m having a great time,” said Howard.

“Most of the students know the basics and are pretty good. Those who are trying out the basics right now are getting acclimated with the water and have fun.”

Seniors Reghan Swift and Brennan Laundry, and junior Nakai Riddle are earning community service hours as lifeguards for the class. Riddle and Laundry took a lifeguard class in 2023 through a program partnering the District and the Silo Ridge Community Foundation.

Swift used to be a competitive swimmer with the Northern Dutchess Aquatic Club, based out of Bard College.

“It’s enjoyable,” said Swift, who also works as a lifeguard at Maplebrook. “I get to connect with the kids. I always swam my whole life, and it’s nice to see kids wanting to learn how to swim.”

Earlier this year, Gov. Kathy Hochul introduced NY SWIMS, which stands for New York Statewide Investment in More Swimming, to promote swim safety. Two of the items being addressed in NY SWIMS are a lifeguard shortage and increased availability to swim lessons.

Gov. Hochul said there were 230 drowning deaths in New York State in 2021. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there are an estimated 4,000 fatal unintentional drownings each year in the United States with drowning being the leading cause of deaths in children ages one to four and the second leading cause of unintentional injury death for children ages five to 14 behind motor vehicle crashes.

“We have this resource in our backyard at Maplebrook, and we wanted to make sure we access it and allow our students to gain some positive swim skills to be successful moving forward,” said Curriculum, Instruction and Technology Director Lauren Marquis, who with District administrators thank Maplebrook for giving students this opportunity.

Marquis hopes more students will be offered a swimming unit during physical education class in the future.

“We have a lot of families and students who are excited about it,” she said.