Teacher pushes swimming program

A teacher is working on the creation of a swimming program that could possibly equip more people with the means and knowledge to avoid drowning.

Speaking before the Rotary Club of Saipan yesterday at the Hyatt Regency Saipan Giovanni’s restaurant, Koblerville Elementary School literacy coach Valrick Welch said he is currently working on a proposal for a grant that would fund a swimming program for the CNMI.

Welch pointed out that last year alone, about 14 drowned on Saipan, many of them young ones and a few were even professional swimmers.

“We had a lot of drowning last year. How can we fix that? We’ve got to get more people, we have to get everybody to learn safety, learn the basics of swimming so they can have the advantage,” he said.

Welch, who has been an instructor in the CNMI Public School System since 1990, said he cares greatly for his students and they are what motivates him to create the swimming program.
“Yes, it’s for the students, it’s for the school,” said Welch, who is also a swimming coach.

He is now working on a petition to get more people behind his proposal before he submits it to FINA or the International Swimming Federation.

“I have a talent for writing and maybe my talent is more for getting people together because we need more people to support it to get what we want and then I will do what I can,” he said.

Welch has already drafted the proposal.

“When you do a proposal, you first start with a problem. What’s causing the problem? What’s the result of the problem? And the problem is we have a lot of people who don’t know how to swim,” he said.

The program not only aims to help students, but to also get Saipan residents back on the water to not only learn how to handle themselves in a life-threatening situation but to also reduce diabetes and other illnesses.

“We have problems with violence, we have problems with people not having anything to do and very high diabetic rate, cancers, etc. This could be reduced if they’re more active,” he said.

“There is a grant that I am waiting to open up, usually it would open up now…this year it will probably be late but probably in the next 60 days or so,” he said.

Welch is hoping for funding up to $350,000 to supplement the program.