 | | | Juliana Biro Photo provided
| | | | | | Acalanes High School junior and Girl Scout Troop 31017 member Juliana Biro completed her Gold Award project this past May. Her project, "Water Wise: A Water Safety Program," in partnership with Lighthouse Community Charter School in East Oakland and the Downtown Oakland YMCA, provided 75 eighth-grade students instruction and offered activities about nutrition, sun safety and water safety. Students also had the opportunity to learn basic swimming skills. Water safety is a passion for Biro as she nearly drowned as a young child. As part of the Water Wise safety program, Biro organized a swim gear drive to provide suits, goggles and towels for every participating student. She also led a coffee talk at Lighthouse School for the eighth-grade parents to explain the purpose of her event and the importance of water safety. Caitlin Leverenz, a 2012 bronze Olympic medalist, joined Biro at the Lighthouse Community Charter School to kick off the event by talking to the students about her Olympic experience and what a difference swimming has made in her life. With this project, Biro hopes to break the pattern of children not knowing how to swim because their parents never learned to swim.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA