July 2014 - Parks & Recreation - 17

Notable News

QThe Washington Post recently recognized NRPA as one of the top places
to work in the greater Washington,
D.C., area, as outlined in the inaugural
Capital Business Top Workplaces for 2014
report (www.washingtonpost.com/
wp-tran/capital-business/top-work
places). Of the 1,672 companies that
participated in the report, NRPA came
in at number 56 in the small workplace
category. In its assessment, the report
highlights the office's prime location
in a public park as well as its indoor
and outdoor exercise and eating areas.
It also commends the association's
403(b) plan with a six percent company match that is fully vested upon hire,
and its 13 paid holidays and 26 days of
paid time off allotted to each full-time
employee per year. An accompanying
article on perks among the region's top
workplaces emphasizes NRPA's walking trails, a popular employee benefit
(www.washingtonpost.com/news/
capital-business/wp/2014/06/20/
workplace-perks-for-every-personali
ty). For career opportunities at NRPA,
visit www.nrpa.org/About-NRPA/
Careers-at-NRPA.
Q The American Red Cross has announced its 2014 Swimming and Water Safety Program, featuring three
new adult learn-to-swim course outlines, a new swim app and a Water
Safety Instructor (WSI) course that
incorporates
advanced-simulation
learning. The new adult swim courses are the first of their kind in the Red
Cross' 100-year aquatics history and
include the most current biomechanics for swim strokes and starts, stroke
descriptions, diving progressions, and
tools to prevent drowning and promote water safety. The new, free mobile app is designed as a companion

to the learn-to-swim adult lessons and
preschool aquatics programs, and it
provides water safety information to
adults and children. Finally, the WSI
program trains aquatics professionals to conduct a series of courses for
adults and children and emphasizes
water competency and the Red Cross
drowning circle of prevention and
chain of survival. As part of its mission to promote better learning outcomes, the Red Cross has also incorporated advanced-simulation learning
and critical thinking into its WSI training. This immersive learning experience allows students to practice new
skills in an authentic, no-risk virtual
environment. WSI students will be offered more than 100 customizable scenarios, and the skill set taught in each
level must be mastered before learners
can advance through the course. More
information on the 2014 Swimming
and Water Safety Program, as well as
other Red Cross initiatives, is available
at www.redcross.org.
Q The Minneapolis park system recently received major accolades from
the Trust for Public Land (TPL), securing the top spot on the organization's
third annual ParkScore index. For
the second year in a row, Minneapolis earned a perfect " five park bench "
rating, posting strong scores in each
of the award's three judging criteria:
park access, park size and services/investment. Considering that 94 percent
of Minneapolis residents live within
a 10-minute walk of a park and the
median park size is 7.1 acres, it's not
difficult to understand how the city
made it to the top of TPL's list. " This
top rating is a wonderful tribute to all
of the individuals who, for the past 131
years, have made the park system what

it is today. I want to assure the people
of Minneapolis and the Twin Cities
region that we're not done yet. We
are committed to opening new public
green spaces and improving parks that
already exist, " Liz Wielinski, president
of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, said in a statement. New
York, Boston, Portland and San Francisco rounded out this year's ParkScore
top five. Details about the list are available at www.parkscore.tpl.org.
QSouthwest Airlines is getting attention for more than its funky corporate
culture and competitive ticket prices.
The business has committed to a big
urban revitalization effort, pledging
to create or revitalize parks and green
spaces in each of the 90 cities it serves.
The initiative began a few years ago
through a partnership with the Project
for Public Spaces (PPS) after Southwest executives discovered how well
both organizations' goal of placemaking aligned. PPS works closely with
nonprofits and community groups to
improve public and civic spaces, and
Southwest decided the two could make
a bigger impact in concert than working apart. Since 2013, the collaboration
has produced new parks or facilitated
renovations of public spaces in Detroit,
Michigan; Providence, Rhode Island;
and San Antonio, Texas. Grants developed through the partnership have also
helped fund the research and publication of a white paper at MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning.
You can follow PPS and Southwest's
upcoming projects online at www.pps.
org/heart-of-the-community.
For more news from around the industry, visit www.parksandrecreation.
org/2014/July/Briefly-Noted.

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July 2014 - Parks & Recreation

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