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WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP – District kindergarten students are more in tune about water safety after taking part in a fun-filled, energetic assembly led by the Washington Township High School Interact Club on Friday, May 19, 2017, inside WTHS’s Investors Bank Performing Arts Center.
During the assembly, the Interact students acted out the book Josh the Baby Otter, written by Blake Collingsworth to help children comprehend and remember this important message: To stay away from water unless accompanied by an adult. Collingsworth’s son, Joshua, drowned in a backyard pool when he was just 2½ years old, and the family has since created the Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation in his honor, committed to solving the problem of drowning.
With senior Patrick Trombetta dressed in an otter suit provided by the Josh the Otter/Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation, Interact executive board members Deven Patel and Olivia McGough introduced the book, which then played over the public address. Other Interact members acted out the story, where Josh the Otter learns how to swim and be comfortable in the water with help from his mother, a friend, and other adult otters.
Interact board members learned about Josh the Otter while at a Rotary International conference. There, they found out that many schools conduct an assembly for younger school-age children based on the Josh the Otter program. Interact acted quickly, setting up the assembly that included music, beach balls, dancing and a bubble machine to get the kindergarten students excited. Rotary stepped up to donate a paperback copy of the book to all kindergarteners, as well as a CD and a coloring book. Members of the Washington Township Rotary, including Superintendent of Schools Joe Bollendorf, were on hand to help greet the students.
At the end of the performance, the Interact executive board asked some water safety questions, and then had the kindergarteners recite the Josh the Otter water safety pledge:
A Fun Way to Learn about Water Safety
WTHS Interact Club Brings “Josh the Otter” Water Safety Assembly to District Kindergarteners
During the assembly, the Interact students acted out the book Josh the Baby Otter, written by Blake Collingsworth to help children comprehend and remember this important message: To stay away from water unless accompanied by an adult. Collingsworth’s son, Joshua, drowned in a backyard pool when he was just 2½ years old, and the family has since created the Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation in his honor, committed to solving the problem of drowning.
With senior Patrick Trombetta dressed in an otter suit provided by the Josh the Otter/Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation, Interact executive board members Deven Patel and Olivia McGough introduced the book, which then played over the public address. Other Interact members acted out the story, where Josh the Otter learns how to swim and be comfortable in the water with help from his mother, a friend, and other adult otters.
Interact board members learned about Josh the Otter while at a Rotary International conference. There, they found out that many schools conduct an assembly for younger school-age children based on the Josh the Otter program. Interact acted quickly, setting up the assembly that included music, beach balls, dancing and a bubble machine to get the kindergarten students excited. Rotary stepped up to donate a paperback copy of the book to all kindergarteners, as well as a CD and a coloring book. Members of the Washington Township Rotary, including Superintendent of Schools Joe Bollendorf, were on hand to help greet the students.
At the end of the performance, the Interact executive board asked some water safety questions, and then had the kindergarteners recite the Josh the Otter water safety pledge:
I promise to be a good son or daughter;
I promise to get an adult if I go near the water;
This will keep me safe like Josh the baby otter.
For more information about the Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation and its Josh the Otter program, go to www.joshtheotter.org.- WTPS -