The MSD of Lawrence Township is taking every fourth grader into the pool this semester as part of a new initiative called Operation Water Safety.
In partnership with the Lawrence Swim Team, the district is introducing about 1,200 students to water safety and basic swim skills through two-day lessons at Lawrence Central and Lawrence North High Schools.
Drowning is the leading cause of accidental death for children ages 1–4 and remains a top cause for older youth, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Yet many students lack access to formal swim instruction, and Operation Water Safety aims to close that gap by bringing lessons directly into schools at no cost to families.
“Operation Water Safety is a two-day course for all of our fourth graders in the township, which is about 1,200 kids,” said Matt Moen, aquatics director for Lawrence Township Schools. “They’ll come on for two days, and they’ll get a lesson. In that lesson, they’ll get about 30 minutes, 20 to 25 of it being actual instruction on water safety, on like how to float, how to swim, how to kick, and that way we’re trying to create an environment where they can be water-safe should they ever need those skills.”
The program runs on back-to-back school days, typically Tuesday and Wednesday, with students split between the two high school natatoriums depending on their elementary school. Each class spends most of the time on safety drills and introductory swimming techniques, followed by a short period of play in the pool.
Tom Moore, physical education teacher at Lawrence North High School and head swimming and diving coach, oversees the in-water instruction.
“We spend about 20 to 25 minutes doing a swim lesson where they’re doing some basic swimming skills like learning how to float on their front, floating on their back, jumping in where they can put their feet down and gather themselves and get back to the wall,” Moore said. “Even work on some like introductory swimming skills, and then the last five, 10 minutes we will have some free play time.”
Moen coordinates logistics including transportation, staffing and field trip permission slips.
“It is a no-cost field trip. It is absolutely free, and then if kids forget their swimsuits or their towels, we have plenty of extras that they can use for the day, so it makes it just a little bit easier,” he said.
Both Moen and Moore emphasized the importance of reaching children who may have little or no previous experience with swimming.
“We do have quite a few kids that may have never been in a pool, or they might be afraid of the water,” Moore said. “What we accomplish more than anything is just getting children comfortable being in and around the water.”
Moen added that the program has been met with enthusiasm.
“The coolest thing has been, like, there’s a lot of kids that definitely haven’t been around water before and are super nervous day one, and they come back like ready to rock and roll day two, and that’s been really, really cool to see that,” he said. “The teachers absolutely love it… The parents love it. The feedback there has been really positive.”
Operation Water Safety also seeks to address disparities in access to swimming lessons.
“A lot of kids don’t necessarily get the opportunity to learn how to swim in a safe environment,” Moen said. “Our township has tons of kids from all walks of life, and they’ll have a lot of kids with parents who don’t know how to swim, so I think the likelihood that they then teach their kids how to swim because they learn how to swim increases, so you’re not just making an impact in this generation, but the generation that comes after it as well.”
While the program currently serves only fourth graders, both staff and district leadership hope to expand.
“There’s been talk about maybe expanding it into the first grade,” Moore said. “If we did something along the lines of first grade and fourth grade, I do feel that you could accomplish quite a bit.”
Moen echoed that goal, though he acknowledged the logistics.
“We’re hoping to get kids in the pool earlier at a younger age next year and a little more often, because … you’re not going to teach a kid to really swim super efficiently in two days, but you can teach them to be water safe,” he said.
Operation Water Safety is running from August to December, with sessions scheduled for all 11 elementary schools in the township.
To learn more about Lawrence Township’s programs, visit ltschools.org.
Contact Health & Environmental Reporter Hanna Rauworth at 317-762-7854 or follow her on Instagram at @hanna.rauworth.
Hanna Rauworth is the Health & Environmental Reporter for the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper, where she covers topics at the intersection of public health, environmental issues, and community impact. With a commitment to storytelling that informs and empowers, she strives to highlight the challenges and solutions shaping the well-being of Indianapolis residents.
