The National Recreation and Park Association and its National Aquatic Branch recognized a number of recreation programs for excellence in planning and managing diversified aquatic services. The awards were presented at the National Aquatic Conference & Exposition and were judged on criteria such as responsiveness to community needs, quality of services, the ability to overcome challenges, accessibility of services to all, and professionalism of staff.

Congratulations to 3 Illinois agencies who were honored with awards:

The Class IV Excellence in Aquatics recipient is Arlington Heights Park District.

Arlington Heights is a community of over 78,000 located 20 miles northwest of Chicago.

The Arlington Heights Park District provides a variety of recreational opportunities to their residents. With one lake facility and one indoor and five outdoor swimming facilities, aquatic recreation is a major focus. In 2007 246,000 users visited one of their aquatic sites. Last year they offered over 850 different types of programs ranging from swim lessons, to water exercise, to sailing lessons, to swim teams.

Those programs accounted for 27,000 participants. Residents of Arlington Heights recognize the importance and benefits of aquatic recreation and their town is often referred to by them as a swimming town. In Arlington Heights swimming is life long.

Arlington Heights Park District has ensured the efficient use of financial resources by seeking out sponsorships to benefit their programs and facilities. They continually modify their program lesson plans, coaching techniques, and staff training approaches by updating manuals to reflect new trends. They have expanded the program offerings at their lake to include cooperative programs with tennis, golf and the swimming facilities.

To hire competent management staff, the agency created the Aquatic Leader Trainee (ALT) Program. This program develops a pool of candidates for management positions annually. New managers hit the ground running and have a solid understanding of the agency’s expectations.

The goal is to promote water safety to the broadest audience in many different venues. They are proud that not a single program or activity takes place in one of their pools without the supervision of at least two lifeguards.

In 2005, their entire agency participated in an accessibility assessment that was performed by the National Center on Accessibility. All of their swimming pools and related facilities are accessible to persons with disabilities.

The 2008 Class V Excellence in Aquatics recipient is Geneva Park District.

The aquatic mission of the Geneva Park District is to provide residents of all ages with safe recreational programs that will enhance their quality of life. They believe that the input of their patrons should be the driving force as it relates to pool operations and new construction.

Geneva Park District realizes the importance of gaining strong swimming skills at a young age. Thus they spend a great deal of time organizing and improving upon the swim lesson programs they offer. In an effort to keep participants interested and satisfied they seek the opinions of their certified staff as well as the participants so that there program is continuously evolving to meet the needs of the public.

The Junior Lifeguard program has been a great success! This program is geared towards children who already possess strong swimming skills and are interested in becoming a lifeguard in the future. The importance of remaining proactive is strongly stressed along with lifesaving techniques that could be implemented in real-life situations.

In addition, the Park District takes hands-on strides in ensuring their swim lesson program has an emphasized portion of safety. The Park District realizes these participants will leave class and swim at other pools/lakes and it is our responsibility to arm them with the most water safety knowledge as possible.

Sunset Pool has always, and will continue to, encourage any and all participants of full and equal access to their facility. They strictly adhere to all ADA compliances. The Geneva Park District believes all people should be afforded the opportunity to participate in any program they offer.

The 2008 Class VI Excellence in Aquatics recipient is Itasca Park District.

The Village of Itasca is located 20 miles west of Chicago, with 9,200 residents and home to over 700 local and world-wide businesses. With the community motto “Committed to our future…inspired by our past”, this community prides itself on excellent intergovernmental, business and community cooperation. The Itasca Park District is its own taxing body and provides open space and recreational activities, including aquatics. The District owns the seasonal Itasca Waterpark; originally, built in 1971 via a $400,000 referendum. Between then and 2006, there had been $1.9M in upgrades and additions, funded thru fees, charges, grants and sponsorships. In 2004, staff determined the original pools were in need of replacement.

The community rallied and a $3.65M referendum passed in 2006 and the newly renovated facility June 2007. Public swimming increased 47.2% from 2003 to 2007, bringing 39,607 patrons to the Waterpark in 2007. Programs include lessons, scuba, fitness, snorkeling, Jr. Lifeguarding, surf ‘n turf camp, birthday parties, family campouts, teen H2O Nites, special events and more. Over 165 children participate on the Itasca Dolphins Swim Team, and hold the record for 1st Place in the DuPage County Swim Conference for the past 10 consecutive years! To provide aquatic programming year-round, the District has agreements with other Park Districts and two private hotels to provide lessons, lap swimming and aqua aerobics. The Itasca Waterpark is a hidden Caribbean Paradise which has something to offer to everyone!

The Mission of the Itasca Park District is to efficiently and economically provide aquatic education, recreation and a facility that is designed to provide wholesome, constructive and enjoyable aquatic leisure time experiences that benefit the community. This is accomplished through cooperation with local agencies/businesses, community input, excellent financial management and a dedicated Board and staff.

Aquatic training is of the utmost importance to the Itasca Park District. Each season over $10,000 is budgeted for aquatic trainings. Each aquatic employee must successfully complete each component to secure employment.

The Jr. Lifeguard Training Program is an important program for the Itasca Park District. This program is for 11-15 year olds. Throughout the summer, students learn water safety, teamwork, lifeguarding skills, CPR, first aid and more. Students shadow lifeguards, assist with the lesson program, attend in-service trainings, assist in lifeguarding, promote safety, etc. Besides learning skills, they are allowed a taste of what it is like to work at the Itasca Waterpark and they have first chance at interviewing for a job once they turn 15 yrs. The program has created water safety awareness within a unique age group.

For patrons with financial disabilities, programs are available to assist with aquatic programming and pool pass costs. Facilities are Universal Design for Accessibility.

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