Did you go to the beach this summer and wonder, “How can I be a lifeguard like my classmates?”
Waterford High School offers a class where students can get a lifeguarding certificate, which includes two years of first aid, CPR, and AED training. To be able to take the Waterford High School’s course, students need to be a sophomore (10th grade), junior (11th grade), or senior (12th grade).
This lifeguarding class is one semester long, and it is 50% classroom-based training, while the other 50% is in the Waterford High School pool.
To be able to get a lifeguard certificate, the Red Cross requires 30 hours to get ‘The American Red Cross Lifeguarding Course,’ complete a written exam, correctly perform scenarios in or out of the pool, and complete the class with an 80%, which is all embedded in our Waterford High School class.
The benefit of taking Waterford High School’s lifeguarding course is that students can get a job over the summer, at the beach all day long, and get credit for a Physical Education credit towards graduation.
In the Waterford High School’s course, students apply for jobs as a class, going through each step to be able to become hired at a beach. In the class, students also learn how to fill out an application and practice interviews.
Once a student gets a certificate, they can apply anywhere. Waterford High School students this summer got jobs at Waterford Beach, Pleasure Private Beach, Great Wolf Lodge, and beaches in East Lyme.
The most important skills to become a lifeguard according to Ms. Megan Sheehan, the physical education teacher who teaches the lifeguarding class says, “[You have to be] mentally able to stay focused and pay attention to protect people’s safety, [you need to be] physically skilled for swimming, [and you also need to] commit to working with others.”
The biggest challenge, according to Sheehan, is learning all the rescue skills in the pool. Students who don’t have enough space in their schedule to take Waterford High School’s lifeguarding course can go to the Waterford Parks and Recreation to get certified as well.
