Male
A little about me:
My name is Mason and I am a college Sophomore. Overall, I have been swimming and comfortable in the water since I was around 6 years old. In high school, I was a 4 year Varsity Swimmer and a captain of the Swim Team my senior year. After my senior year of high school, the club team I swam for in the summer offered me the position of Assistant coach, and I have been in that position for the past 2 years. When coaching, I work with kids of all ages, anywhere from 3 to 18. With those who did not know how to swim, the coaches taught them until they could confidently swim on their own. Overall I am very fair with my students, and try to coax them into being the best swimmer they can be. I am very big on trying, and failing, because it teaches children a hard life lesson early. That persistence is usually rewarded with a desired outcome. I do not accept “I won’t” or “I don’t want to”‘s in my class, only “I’ll try”. The only way to get good at something is to try and not succeed the first time around. I teach swimming because it is something I genuinely like to do. Personally, I love the water and I think everyone who wants to learn how to swim should. It is a great skill to have and can lead to very unique opportunities like joining swim team or life-guarding during the summer.
Personally, I love swimmers/students with little or no experience. We classify them as “beginners”. Teaching from the ground up is a very interesting opportunity. Although swimming feels natural, it is more muscle memory than a natural bodily motion like running. Teaching children such an important life skill is really rewarding, for both the student and myself. Here, we teach freestyle and backstroke first, which is really beneficial because those are life saving strokes. In the event of an emergency, those two strokes may actually save someones life, so they’re an important skill to have. Motivating children is really important during these lessons as well. I use constructive criticism as well as lots of positive reinforcement to make sure kids are having fun, not goofing off too often, and learning the skills they came here to learn. Overall, if the students are having fun and learning what they are supposed to be learning, it’s really easy to meet parents goals.
I am currently a Red Cross Certified lifeguard as well as being certified in CPR, AED and First Aid, and I have gone through Making Waves instructor training program. In my coaching experience, I was kind of just thrown into the regime, not really knowing what I was doing until a few weeks into the process. That helped me develop my own style when teaching children, and has given me important skills like time management and sticking to a schedule. Overall, I really enjoy working in the water and with children, and I think learning how to swim is a life changing skill.
Winter 2019: January 2nd – March 31st
Additional Openings:
Spring 2019: April 1st – June 30th
*Tuition fees are based on one private half hour lesson per week until the end of a specific session. Pricing may vary depending on your enrollment date and type of class.