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Amanda Butterfield ReportingIt's the end of the school year and with temperatures in the 90's, what better way for students to beat the heat then a dip in the pool?
The Cottonwood Heights swimming pool is mostly filled with families tonight, but earlier today there were over 150 students swarming the pool. With their teachers’ permission, they ditched the classroom and learned a very important lesson with a splash.
Students from Cottonwood Heights Elementary School didn't hesitate to take the plunge into summer. It's part of 'fun in the sun' days, and over the past week eight different schools have spent a day in the pool. The lifeguards were able to sneak in a little bit of summer safety learning, too.
Lyse Durrant, Aquatic Programs Manager: "We talk about no running on the deck, things you can't bring to the pool, and we talk about sunscreen, it's huge."
Always wear at least SPF 30, and remember, the sunburns your little ones get this summer could come back and haunt them. Studies show that kids who get sunburned early on are showing a three to five times greater risk of skin cancer later on in life. It’s a statistic lifeguards here are hoping to change.
Lyse Durrant: "It's really sad when you've been guarding for three or four hours, and you see a kid go home bright red, it's just awful. I always encourage my guards when they see kids like that to bring them into the guard room and we'll give them sunscreen."
But fortunately, even the 90 degree heat didn't stop this bright group of 4th, 5th and 6th graders from catching on.
Cameron Brown, Swimmer: “It's not hot right now, it's all refreshing in the water and when you have the sunscreen on it doesn't hurt."
Sunscreen isn't the only thing to remember if you hit the pool to cool off – There’s no running, because it gets slippery and you could fall. And don't bring any glass to the pool, there's lots of little bare feet walking around.
