GISD pre-K classes to get free swim lessons, life jackets

Preschool students within Graham ISD will be receiving free swimming lessons and life jackets after Remembering Wyatt Dale Water Safety Co-founder Tracey Terasas coordinated with the district and Cook Children’s Medical Center to fund the program.

The Remembering Wyatt Dale organization in Graham seeks to spread the message of water safety and provide life jackets for all children. On July 7, 2013, the Terasas family lost Wyatt Dale Terasas to drowning at a public lake swim area. Since then, the family has worked to put life jackets on all children and spread water safety locally and around the state.

Graham ISD Superintendent Sonny Cruse spoke about the new preschool program during a regular school board meeting Wednesday and said Terasas had approached him last year regarding the program.

“About (...) four to six months ago, I started talking to Mrs. (Tracey) Terasas,” Cruse said. “(...) she runs (Remembering) Wyatt Dale, it’s a local nonprofit here that works with water safety, provides life jackets, and things of that nature. And because of a tragedy in her life has become her passion and (she’s a) really sweet lady. She came to me with an idea of a while back and said, ‘You know, I have this goal that I would love to be able to start off with pre-K and gets some intro to swim lessons, water safety courses.’ We’ve done some things on the campus, but she said ‘Where we’re actually in the water. We were doing some things real.’ And she said, ‘I just don’t know if you’ll allow it.’ And I said, ‘Well, we talked through it,’ and I said ‘Well, I think it’s kind of a cool thing do so.’ So she went back to the drawing board and designed the program and she’s done a lot of extensive work over time with her foundation, with (Cook Children’s Medical Center), so she approached Cook Children’s (regarding the program).”

For the rest of the story, see the Jan. 22 edition of The Graham Leader.