COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — Lifeguards are critical when it comes to summer safety, yet for the past few years, there's been a nationwide problem to find enough people for the job.
However, one summer program in metro Atlanta is working with teens to help meet the need.
Isla Edwards is among the teens at Horizons Atlanta who have completed lifeguard training. She's now spending the summer as a guard for the program, the same program which taught her to swim years ago.
"One of the main things we learned here was to swim," Edwards said. "So being a lifeguard and helping other children learn to swim felt very full circle."
The six-week summer program supports students from underserved communities. The nonprofit not only focuses on math and literacy, but also offers critical swimming instruction for participating kids, many of whom begin Horizons in kindergarten and continue through high school. There are milestones each year, as students move the basics. One highlight is the the third grade swim meet, which 11Alive featured in 2023, while the lifeguard training represents the top of the ladder, according to site leader Kristin Jackson.
"I feel like the lifeguard certification is the pinnacle," Jackson said. "At this point, we are such experts at swimming that we can save other people in the water."
Such training started as a way to engage older teens as they mastered skills in the water, Jackson said, but the training is also the foundation for viable work.
"It's just building on itself," Executive Director for Horizons Atlanta Meredith Johnson said. "We're able to give them skills to be employed, and some of them we're giving them their first job. It's amazing to feel we are apart of that success."
That success even more critical in recent years amid a national lifeguard shortage, which "has worsened in recent years," the American Lifeguard Association (ALA) notes on its website. One barrier, the ALA indicates, can also be the challenges of certification process itself, which can require resources of time and money. But, Horizons Atlanta is already tuition free for students, many of whom attend Title I schools, and there's also no cost for students who participate in lifeguard training and certification.
Edwards said the free training is not the only perk. She likes the hours and giving back to her community and said that employers are also reaching out noticing the role on her resume.
"It teaches you a lot of skills," Edwards said. "It teaches you to be watchful. It teaches you accountability for yourself and others. It teaches you leadership ... I feel like this job has given me a lot of things I didn't have before that I can carry with me in my regular and professional life."
To learn more or apply for Horizons Atlanta, click here.