Aquatics Guide - 2018 - 10

Dive into Diversity

Some of the aquatics department staff for
the Milwaukee Public Schools Department of
Recreation and Community Services.

By Nicole E. Jacobson

ilwaukee, Wisconsin, is a very diverse city. With a population of nearly
600,000, it consists of 75 designated neighborhoods. As such, it is imperative that the individuals delivering recreation services reflect this
diversity. The ability to meet this need has been especially challenging in the aquatics arena. However, through the implementation of several creative
strategies, the Milwaukee Public Schools Department of Recreation and Community
Services (aka Milwaukee Recreation) now boasts a highly diverse aquatics workforce.
What strategies did we use to grow and retain this diverse team?
Changing the Dynamic
Swim has always been my passion, and
in August 2004, I landed my dream job
of aquatics supervisor for Milwaukee
Recreation. One of the first things I noticed was that swim lessons offered in
middle-class neighborhoods throughout
our city had good participation numbers,

Parks & Recreation

while those in poorer areas did not. So,
I set out to change this dynamic and to
build a program that was more reflective
of the city I served.
Planting the Seeds
I began by conducting both a market
and program analysis of our aquatics

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classes and making the necessary adjustments to ensure programming was
adequate throughout our city. Adding
and nurturing learn-to-swim programs
in underserved areas of our community
took 3-5 years to reach capacity but has
proven successful.
A fundamental pillar of our strategy
is making personal connections with
families to encourage swim participants
to remain in our program until they are
age-eligible for training and employment. This has proven successful in
creating a pipeline to cultivate young
swimmers into part-time employees. In
addition, our three novice-level swim
teams attract swimmers who complete

Aquatics Guide - 2018

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