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  • Teach Water Safety Outreach

    Water Safety Outreach for Children and Adults

    Help make your community safer in and around water by teaching water safety outreach! The Red Cross provides free educational resources that can be used by anyone to teach water safety by registering as an Aquatic leader and completing a simple orientation to the materials.

    For Children: Longfellow's WHALE Tales

    Longfellow WHALE Tales is taught to raise children’s awareness of safe behavior in, on and around the water. WHALE Tales is a free course that can be taught by any Aquatic Leader or instructor or school teacher. WHALE Tales can be taught without a pool and is a great rainy day activity for Schools, Summer Camps, and during Swimming Lessons.

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    For Adults: Water Safety Outreach

    Help prepare older youth and adults in your community to be safer in, on and around the water by teaching our water safety presentations. This lifesaving information is designed to be delivered in short sessions in any setting, such as service organizations for older youth or adults, community meetings or your homeowners association.

    Water Safety Presentation Lesson Plans

    Water Safety Presentation Participant Handouts

    Be sure to report your participant enrollments. This helps the Red Cross tell your community’s “Water Safety story” and attract funders that support mission related activities such as our Centennial Campaign.

    Report Your Enrollments

    Are you passionate about teaching water safety and ready to take the next step? Our award-winning Swim Instructor training will provide you with the knowledge, skills and certification to teach American Red Cross Learn-to-Swim classes for children and/or adults.

    • The Basic Swim Instructor (BSI) course trains instructor candidates to teach the fundamental Learn-to-swim courses including Parent and Child Aquatics, Preschool Aquatics, Learn-to-Swim Levels 1-3 and private swimming lessons (for the courses listed). BSI candidates are not required to perform advanced swimming strokes and skills such as butterfly, backstroke and diving.
    • The Water Safety Instructor® (WSI™) course trains instructor candidates to teach all of the courses presented in the Swimming and Water Safety program to all age groups; all of the courses listed above, plus Learn-to-Swim Levels 4-6 and Adult Swim. This certification is the gold standard and provides the most comprehensive training for swim instructors.