For one John Muir Elementary mom, the impact of SPLASHForward’s Every Second Grader Learns to Swim became clear when she joined her child’s class as a chaperone.

Her child has special needs, and swimming lessons had not felt like a simple thing to pursue. But at the pool, she was able to watch what an adaptive swim lesson actually looked like.

Her child was not separated from the experience. They received one-on-one instruction from Nurturing Water Therapies while learning alongside classmates receiving group lessons. Then the students came together for free play in the water. Four John Muir students received adaptive instruction as part of the program.

Seeing it firsthand changed something for this mom.

She could see how her child could be supported and her skills develop. She could see what was possible. And she left feeling confident enough to enroll her child in continued swim lessons and beaming with pride not fear.

That is the kind of impact that is difficult to capture in a grant total.

In Kirkland, knowing how to swim matters

Water is part of life here.

Kirkland has three guarded swimming beaches at Juanita Beach, Waverly Beach and Houghton Beach, along with the seasonal Peter Kirk Pool. Children are growing up surrounded by Lake Washington, docks, beaches, boats, paddleboards and opportunities to be in and around water. At the City’s guarded beaches, children 12 and younger even have to demonstrate their swimming ability before moving beyond the shallow-water buoy line.

For a child who cannot swim, all of that access can feel very different.

It can mean staying close to shore while friends head deeper. It can mean avoiding the dock, the boat or the pool party. More importantly, it can leave a child without skills that could someday save their life.

The CDC identifies lack of swimming ability as a drowning risk and says formal swimming lessons can reduce drowning risk for children and young adults. Drowning can also happen quickly and quietly, and nonfatal drowning can result in serious long-term injury.

But swimming gives children more than a safety skill.

It gives them the experience of being nervous and trying anyway. Of practicing something that is difficult. Of discovering that what felt impossible on the first day may feel different by the sixth.

SPLASHForward saw that happen with the second-grade class at John Muir.

Students were assessed at the beginning of the program and placed into groups based on their swimming ability. As the lessons progressed, some began asking whether they were ready to take the test to move into deeper water for their lessons. For some, it was their very first formal swim lessons. Teachers also saw students demonstrate strengths in the pool that their classmates might not normally see in the classroom. The water gave students another place to succeed, build confidence, and see one another differently.

54 second graders got that opportunity

Through their Every Second Grader Learns to Swim program, SPLASHForward served all 54 second graders at John Muir Elementary in Kirkland.

Each student received six free swim lessons at the Juanita High School pool through Wave Aquatics, along with classroom water-safety education. Families received information about continuing swim lessons, financial assistance, and opportunities to return to the pool after the school program ended.

And the learning started before anyone got on the bus.

The John Muir music teacher even turned SPLASHForward’s water-safety messages into a song. Soon students were singing it at school and at the pool, carrying water safety with them in a way second graders could remember.

This is what Ignite Kirkland donors invested in

Donors to Ignite Kirkland helped make the John Muir pilot possible.

Across the 2024 and 2025 Ignite Kirkland campaigns, approximately $4,125 was contributed to the program. One of the biggest practical barriers was something donors might never see from the pool deck: getting 54 children there. Transportation alone cost approximately $2,252.

That is an important part of this story.

Sometimes community impact is a swim instructor working one-on-one with a child.

Sometimes it is a mom realizing, my child can do this.

And sometimes it is simply a bus.

When donors give through Ignite Kirkland, they help local organizations solve the practical problems between a good idea and a child actually benefiting from it.

In this case, donor investment helped SPLASHForward connect a school, a school district, Wave Aquatics, adaptive swim instructors, teachers, families, and volunteers and around 54 Kirkland kids who learned essential life skills.

The ripple goes farther than one school

Every Second Grader Learns to Swim is only one part of SPLASHForward’s work.

The organization is building what it calls Aquatics Pathways, focused on making aquatic opportunities more accessible to people who have faced barriers because of cost, proximity, lack of facilities or simply never having been exposed to swimming. It also supports high school lifeguard training, helping young people gain lifesaving skills while creating a pathway to jobs at pools and beaches.

SPLASHForward reports that its year-round high school lifeguard training program has now supported more than 500 students. Last year alone, 129 students participated in lifeguard-related programming. After funding constraints temporarily limited the program, new support from Amazon has helped restart the work. Additional sponsors are still needed to fully fund and sustain the program, creating an opportunity for community partners to help expand access to lifeguard training and build a stronger pipeline of trained aquatic professionals.

And SPLASHForward continues its larger work advocating for greater public access to aquatics and building the facilities needed to support swimming, water safety, fitness, rehabilitation and community connection throughout the Eastside.

The John Muir pilot gives us a glimpse of what that vision can look like on a very human scale.

A second grader gets on a bus.

A teacher watches a student become more confident.

A child who needs adaptive instruction learns in the same pool as their classmates.

And a mom who may not have known how swimming could work for her child sees it with her own eyes and decides there can be a next lesson.

That is what access can change. And that is what Kirkland donors helped make possible.

Founded in 2014, the Kirkland Community Foundation is a local community foundation supporting nonprofits across Kirkland and the Eastside. We connect donors, nonprofits, and community priorities through grants, partnerships, and local giving that strengthen our parks, people, and shared future. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 46‑4931717), we invest in thriving nonprofits, visible community impact, and trusted local leadership.