Because Y.E.T.I. is dedicated to serving young people during their time in public schools, we find ourselves outside in all kinds of less than ideal weather. Any dedicated outdoor enthusiast in Western Washington knows that it takes a lot of desire and quite a bit of tolerance for discomfort to get outside in the months between October and May. And at Y.E.T.I., we specialize and thrive in finding unique opportunities to explore all the wonder that outdoor adventure has to offer, even in the gloomier months.
But still, some activities and adventures just lend themselves better to warm sunny days when it comes to creating a positive learning environment. Our kayaking program is one of those activities. Although young people love getting out on the water with us, the season tends to be best enjoyed right at the beginning of the school year, and again just before summer starts. This allows participants to learn all the essential techniques for paddling without also battling the cold, windy numbness that comes with winter time paddling.
Thanks to a recent partnership with the Mt. Rainier Pool, however, Y.E.T.I. has been able to expand our students’ paddling season! After being connected with Scott Deschenes and the staff at the pool, it was clear to us that this facility is very well aligned with our mission to serve young people in this community. The pool was excited for us to bring in kayaks during off hours and practice rescue skills with the students in our after-school clubs. They even found a way to donate the hours to Y.E.T.I. at no cost to our program!
With access to an indoor environment (complete with a lifeguard) to practice kayaking, Y.E.T.I. can now get a jump start on our paddling program. We are able to practice skills as early as February and March, allowing our students to enter the spring paddling season so much more prepared. While a few weeks head start may not sound like much, it makes all the difference to our paddling progression as students can now be ready to hit the water on lakes and even the Puget Sound the second warm spring weather starts to arrive!
In addition to expanding our paddling season, our partnership with the pool allows us to introduce students to an early career path, as the pool offers many youth programs to train as lifeguards. Many of the young people we work with are looking for exciting opportunities to obtain gainful employment and the skills they learn at Y.E.T.I. can translate so well to a job with real life risk management responsibilities like life guarding.
As we continue on our path to inspire young people in South King County, we are so grateful for partners like the Mt. Rainier Pool who are willing to work alongside us in this endeavor. Together, we will always go further than we would alone and we look forward to our future work with the pools in Des Moines and any other friends that may want to jump on board!
