Greater Joliet Area YMCA

GREATER JOLIET AREA YMCA

C.W. Avery, Central City, Galowich, Morris

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Job Opportunities at the Greater Joliet Area YMCA

Imagine going to work knowing that what you do each day positively affects the lives of people in your community. Working at the Y, you’ll discover more than a job—you’ll enjoy a career with a future and the opportunity to make a lasting difference in the lives of those around you.

The Smith Family YMCA is now hiring Lifeguards and Swim Instructors to join our Aquatics Team!

Certification preferred, but not required. Ellis and STAR guards are encouraged to apply. The Y will pay Red Cross certification fees for qualified candidates.

Working at the Y, you’ll discover more than a job—you’ll enjoy a career with a future and the opportunity to make a lasting difference in the lives of those around you.

Apply online or contact:

Catie Wallis
Aquatics Director
Smith Family YMCA
Phone: (815) 782-0806
Email: [email protected]

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National Water Safety Month: Tips for Keeping Your Family Safe In and Around Water

National Water Safety Month

May is National Water Safety Month, which aims to raise awareness about the well-being of individuals around bodies of water.  Swimming is not only a great physical activity, but it’s also a popular pastime enjoyed by families throughout the summer.  And, with drowning being the leading cause of death among children, the Greater Joliet Area YMCA encourages you and your family to practice water safety year-round.

If you’re looking to help keep your family safe around the water, you may want to consider these helpful tips before or during your next trip to the pool:

Sign-Up for Swim Lessons

Enrolling your child in swim lessons at a young age is extremely beneficial.  Children, ages 1-4, have a decreased risk of drowning when they’ve participated in swim lessons.  And, as an adult, it’s always great to take a refresher course or ‘dive’ into swim lessons yourself.

Did you know the Galowich Family YMCA offers a learn-to-swim program for adults? 

The Y’s ‘No Fear Fridays’ swim program is underway!  Throughout the month of May, adults, ages 18 and up, are invited to learn basic swim skills and improve their health and well-being during this new class on Fridays from 9:15-10 a.m. at the Galowich Family Y, located at 749 Houbolt Road in Joliet.

Swim with a Friend

It’s important at any age to have a friend or family member accompany you while swimming.  The risk of drowning can happen at any time, so having a friend or family member close by is important in case of an emergency.

Get Certified or Re-Certified in CPR

Understanding CPR is an excellent life skill to have, and is especially important when you’re around water.  Being able to perform CPR during a medical emergency can help to save a life.  The YMCA offers CPR classes at its Joliet and Plainfield locations.

To learn more about CPR classes at the Y, visit the Y’s website.

Have a Phone Available for Emergencies

Whether you’re heading to the beach or the pool, be sure to have the ability to contact 911 if an emergency should arise.

 

To learn more about water safety, check out this great article, courtesy of the American Red Cross.

As a reminder, summer swim lessons will get underway on Monday, June 3.  Families are invited to take advantage of the Y’s Early Bird offer and save $5 on Summer 1 swim lessons through Tuesday, May 28. To learn more about swim lessons at the Y, please visit the Y’s website or contact your local YMCA’s Aquatics Director.

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Why You Should Join the Joliet Y JETS Swim Team

WenLi, a fourth-grader/member of the Joliet Y JETS Swim Team, wrote a persuasive paper about why her peers should join the JETS. Check it out!

Hey! I would like you to join the Joliet JETS swim team. People on my team have more fun in life. If you joined my team, you could get out and get active, have more fun and be healthy.

The first thing you can do on my swim team is get out and get active. It is fun, you should try it. Why should you join a swim team? Well, the coaches try to encourage you and help you. They are nice to you too! Swimming is better than school, and sitting at home doing nothing. Join my swim team!

The next reason to join the swim team is to have fun, and have a good time. You should have fun in life, don’t be stuck in boring school! Have fun on the JETS and be yourself. We won’t care, you are who you are and we respect that. Don’t be stuck at home doing nothing when you can have so much fun on the JETS. We have fun in swim because people encourage us but in school you just do work and more work. We have free time to play in the pool and out of the pool. It’s fun! Don’t you want to do all of that fun stuff?

Last but not least, if you join the swim team, you will be healthy. You will be strong and have fun doing it! No more treadmill to be healthy, you just have to swim and have fun. Work your body, move your body, get strong, and get healthy. You will feel better, and your body will feel better too! Just join the Joliet JETS. It’s good for you!

Obviously, joining the swim team is an excellent choice. It’s fun and exciting. When you join the swim team, remember you can get out and get active, have fun, and stay healthy. As the JETS say, “Change is the dawn of improvement.”

The JETS 2014 Fall Swim Clinic will be held September 8-13. The clinic is an opportunity for swimmers to meet some of the coaches and try out the team to see if they would like to join. The coaches work on basic technique drills and provide instruction throughout the week as they evaluate where each swimmer will be placed if they decide to join. For more information, click here.

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The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson

On Friday, June 20, tens of thousands of participants from hundreds of locations around the globe, teamed up for the World’s Largest Swim Lesson (WLSL). In an effort to raise awareness about the importance of swim lessons, the C.W. Avery Family YMCA, the Galowich Family YMCA and the Smith Family YMCA served as official Host Location Facilities for the WLSL 2014 event, which aimed to set a new Guinness World Record for largest swimming lesson ever conducted.

All in all, more than 200 YMCA campers and staff took part in the initiative.

Tragically, drowning remains the leading cause of unintended, injury related death for children ages 1-5, and the second leading cause of accidental death for children under 14. Research shows participation in formal swimming lessons can reduce the risk of drowning by 88 percent among children aged 1 to 4, yet many kids do not receive formal swimming or water safety training.

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Olympic Swimmers Visit the Y

YMCA-FF-5The C.W. Avery Family YMCA was lucky enough to have three U.S. Olympians pay a visit to their branch this past Sunday. As a part of the Fitter and Faster Swim Tour, Olympians Kara Lynn Joyce, Chloe Sutton and Scott Weltz taught a swim clinic focused on helping kids become better, more efficient swimmers.

The event was a big hit—a total of 120 area youth between the ages of seven and seventeen attended the sold-out clinic. The Olympians shared various tips and techniques, conducted pool workouts and dry land exercises and even held a Q&A.

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