Roosevelt Island Parents Network Advocacy Adds More Baby and Toddler Swimming Classes At Sportspark - Good Job By Parents And RIOC

Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Common Council Member and head of the RI Parents Network Eva Bosbach reports on the expansion of the baby and toddler swimming program at Sportspark.

 Roosevelt Island 2012 Baby Swim Class

According to Dr. Bosbach

After two years of advocacy by the Roosevelt Island Parents’ Network, consisting of more than 220 families, RIOC started swimming classes for babies and toddlers at Sportspark last spring. The affordability ($5 per class), together with the possibility to join on a drop-in basis – a firm commitment for a whole program is often difficult with small children – made it possible for many Island parents to join the classes with their children. Between 15 and 22 families attended every Wednesday morning at 10:30. Because of the day and time, those classes could usually be attended only by stay-at-home parents.

Later this year, after another advocacy effort and supplying RIOC with a list of preregistered families and preferred time slots, we were happy to report that RIOC added classes that can be attended more easily by working parents as well. First, RIOC set up two 30-minute classes on Sundays at 11:00 and 11:30 a.m. and, later, a third class at 10:30 a.m., based on the high demand. Each time slot can accommodate up to 13 families and, so far, they have been full or almost full. Please come join us at Sportspark on Sundays at one of these times until Labor Day, provided that your child is between 6 and 36 months of age.

On behalf of the Roosevelt Island Parents’ Network, I would like to thank RIOC for making it possible for us, in an affordable and uncomplicated way, to teach our children to swim and to like the water right here on Roosevelt Island. We would especially like to thank Donald Lewis, Steven Chironis, and Eddie Perez, who helped to establish the classes at Sportspark, as well as instructor Kenneth Ryan Sherrill, who is doing a great job both inside and outside the water. Another thank-you goes to Aaron Hamburger and the RIRA Island Services Committee for their help and support. We hope that, in the future, it will be possible to keep both a weekday and a weekend class running to meet the diverse demands of our Island community. Thank you, RIOC!