MISSION
The purpose of MUSA is to improve life outcomes for youth living in under resourced areas. Programs and services will foster the development of strong character, positive self-esteem, leadership, and skills that lead to academic success. MUSA shall also establish and create opportunities for youth to pursue training, education and employment designed to place them on the path to economic self-sufficiency.
VISION
The MUSA program will target Black and Latino males and teach participants to swim, provide an opportunity to acquire lifeguard certification and place them in high paying aquatics positions throughout NYC. MUSA participants will learn to save the lives of others and in the process, save their own.
PROGRAM MODEL
Participants will begin the MUSA program in the 9th grade and engaged in swim lessons until they become proficient swimmers. Next students will be taught the skills needed to qualify for the lifeguard certification program. These skills include timed swim test, surface dives, treading water, and other techniques. They will also review the lifeguard-training manual and take practice written test. Upon mastery of the pre-requisite skills participants are then enrolled in the 36-hour lifeguard certification course. Successful completion of this course will yield lifeguard, Red Cross CPR and first aid certifications and guaranteed summer employment. At every stage of the program, participants must maintain school attendance, grade, and promotion mandates to stay on track for graduation. They will be required to meet with a social worker at least once per week and attend academic tutoring daily. Additionally, lifeguard certified students must complete a job readiness unit to create a resume and learn interviewing skills before being placed in a lifeguard position. Once participants become certified lifeguards they also perform (15) community service hours to advocate for the MUSA program and the benefits of swimming. MUSA operates weekdays during afterschool hours, September – June and serves participants from NYC public schools and community-based organizations located in under resourced neighborhoods. Thus far MUSA has provided services at the Thomas Jefferson High School Campus in East New York, Brooklyn.
WHY SWIMMING?
1) The process of learning to swim and earning lifeguard certification teaches discipline, responsibility, builds character and develops leadership skills. These life skills will support academic success and increase high school graduation rates of the MUSA participants.
2) According to the CDC, drowning is the second cause of unintentional death for African and Latino youth. Between 2001 and 2010, nationally 3,707 Black and Latino youth under the age of 18 died from drowning, including 121 deaths in New York, 80% of the victims were male. Teaching youth to swim reduces the chances of drowning drastically and it also promotes positive attitudes towards swimming as well as health and wellness benefits.
3) In NYC, the unemployment rate for Black and Latino male teens is 57% and 41% respectively. Achieving a lifeguard certification will make participants eligible for high paying job opportunities. Certified lifeguards earn on average, $25 per hour, significantly higher than the minimum wage and far above the rate most teenagers earn. The demand for certified lifeguards in NYC is extremely high in the summer months, when hundreds of camps are in session and required to have certified lifeguards on staff (1 lifeguard for each group of 25 campers) to be allowed to swim at NYC public pools. There are also private camps and swim programs as well as beaches that hire lifeguards in the summer. However, lifeguard employment opportunities extend past the summer months, as lifeguards are needed at indoor pool facilities all year long.