New Program! Rainier Valley Rowing
The Pocock Foundation’s Access Rowing Committee is excited to announce the launch of a new program that will bring the sport of rowing to South Seattle high school students by eliminating barriers to access.

The new program design is based on 14 years of program feedback that Seattle lacks ongoing rowing opportunities for our neighbors that don’t fit into the traditional junior model used in the U.S.. Coupled with new evidence that childhood health is largely connected to family income, race and zipcode, it is imperative that our community create ways that rowing –a lifetime sport, and an iconic one for Seattle- can be made available to all of Seattle’s young people.

Seattle is fortunate to have already invested in the building of the Mount Baker boathouse in South Seattle. Until now, it has gone under-utilized by its closest neighbors, but all that is about to change. This August, Rainier Valley Rowing will launch our first junior crew program. The end goal for participants is increased opportunities and overall health through their experiences in rowing, participation in a positive peer community, and the development of healthy relationships with their bodies.

Who: Open to all 8-12 graders who are currently in need of assistance to participate in extra-curricular activities, especially those from low-income families who are at increased risk for poor life-long health do to lack of recreational opportunities and skills. Rainier Valley Rowing will be hosted in partnership with Seattle Parks and Recreation’s Mt. Baker Rowing and Sailing Center in the Genesee Park neighborhood. Participants will be identified by local teachers and mentors from Rainier Valley public schools and community organizations, and through existing access rowing program partner organizations such as Lakeside LEEP, the Tech Access Foundation (TAF), and Zion Preparatory Academy. Recruiting begin at schools in late spring and continues throughout the summer.

When: Try out crew! August 9th, 2008 2-4pm at Mt. Baker
Program Dates: School Year, August 25, 2008 – June 1, 2009

How:Rainier Valley Rowing is a bridge program for the traditional junior Learn-to-Row model. In addition to teaching participants to row, instructors will provide strong mentorship, advocacy, and assistance for helping students to overcome some of the most common barriers to participation. Tactics for eliminating barriers will include:

• In-school recruiting and parent/guardian informational nights
• Partnership with local pool for swimming instruction and water comfort and safety lessons
• Healthy living guest speaker series by community leaders on topics such as: nutrition, sports medicine, yoga, positive visualization, etc.
• Subsidized costs. Program fee is only $50 for the year, and scholarships are available
• Healthy after-school snacks
• Transportation assistance
• Academic monitoring and partnerships for assistance
• All regatta fees and travel expenses are covered
• Transference planning and collaboration with varsity coaches / teams
• Varsity scholarship fund to assist Team graduates with ongoing fees and expenses
• On-going mentorship and assistant coaching opportunities for qualified program graduates

On August 25, two weeks before the start of fall crew season, Rainier Valley Rowing participants will begin meeting for pool sessions to learn basic deep water comfort and safety skills and advance their swimming abilities. On September 11, 2008 the Team will begin after-school novice rowing sessions at Mt. Baker while staff continue to assist participants through the avenues outlined above. Come spring, participants and one of the RVR coaches will join with the traditional novice team at Mt. Baker to row and compete. All participants will also receive the added benefits our “healthy living” guest speaker series and opportunities to get to know and work with the varsity coaches in order to prepare themselves for future rowing opportunities.

By the end of the school year, participants will have all the skills necessary to continue on as a varsity rower throughout the remainder of high school and beyond if they desire. To ensure continued access to crew, the Boating Advisory Council at Mt. Baker has made significant scholarship money available to qualifying participants for on-going participation.

More Northwest Outreach Progams
The following Northwest programs are recent programs supported by the Access Rowing Committee. For details on each program, click on the program name.

Girl’s Row
Girl’s Row invites girls ages 11-14 from middle-schools throughout Seattle to participate in an introduction to rowing hosted by the University of Washington’s Women’s Rowing Team and Conibear Rowing Club. This 3.5 hour event includes time on-the-water in the UW training barge and mini sessions on fitness, nutrition, staying active, teamwork and water safety.

The event occurs on the University of Washington campus, offering the girls an opportunity to see the college in action. The event gives the participants an opportunity to meet ‘champions’ and athletic women from different generations and envision what might be possible for themselves. Each participant receives a healthy lunch, a t-shirt, gift bag and a stamped ‘passport’ on completion of all the sessions. Some of these young women may go on to independently participate in local rowing and other athletic opportunities. Resources about local rowing and other programs specifically for girls in middle-school are made available to each participant at the event.

Lakeside Education and Enrichment Program (LEEP)
LEEP is a program for young people as they transition from middle to high schools. Each summer, approximately 100 young people, identified by adults in their Seattle communities as having the potential to achieve more than they currently do, join a group of dedicated staff and mentors who prepare them for high school. The emphasis is on creating a positive peer community and safe space where these young people can begin to see their own academic and social potentials. LEEP follows these young people through high school, offering support and guidance toward their goals and college educations.

Orion Center's TREC Summer Rowing Program
The Orion Center is a "YouthCare" program that serves homeless and street dependent youth in Seattle. The Orion Center has a special program, TREC, which aims to use activities in the community to teach clients life skills. Rowing at the Pocock Rowing Center is one such activity. Through rowing, participants are able to experience and then reflect on how they deal with learning a new skill, working as member of a team, receiving feedback, and valuing their own successes and hard work.

Initially, this rowing program was made available to the Orion Center's clients, but later expanded to include young people from several of YouthCare's area shelters. YouthCare services include residential centers specializing in emergency, short-term, and transitional housing as well as adjunct facilities such as the Orion Center which serves these young people through a drop in center, GED and school programs, job skills training and counseling. The Orion Center also offers showers, laundry facilities, and hot meals for young people to age 22.

Due to a high turnover in their participants, summer rowing programs have been offered in a "camp format" where participants attend Monday-Friday for one or two-week camps supported by 1-2 coaches, experienced-rower-volunteers, and several program staff from YouthCare.

Seattle Parks Department’s (SPD) Special Populations Group

The SPD, in partnership with an area boathouse (formerly the Pocock Rowing Center, currently Lake Union Crew) offers rowing to adults with a range of moderate to severe developmental and physical disabilities. Participants attend other common groups and activities through the parks dept., so may arrive knowing one another. Participants transport themselves to the boathouse and wear PFDs while participating. SPD takes care of registration and paperwork, while the boathouse supplies coaches, equipment, and curriculum. These partners work together to recruit a significant number of volunteers and to organize occasional exhibition and competition opportunities.

Technology Access Foundation Rowing Camp

The 2007 Technology Access Foundation (TAF) team ran its first successful rowing program this summer at MBRC. Rowing twice a week, young teens enrolled in their IT Internship program learned to row all-eights and love it. TAF used rowing both as a technical tool for exploring the physics of movement as well as a reward, reflection, and transference opportunity for students who had worked hard in their internships all year.

Zion Preparatory Academy Rowing

Zion Prep is a grade school in Seattle’s South end with a mission “to ensure academic excellence in a supportive Afrocentric, Christian based environment”. In this program, 7th and 8th graders who often live near Seattle’s Lake Washington yet largely come from non-boating and non-swimming backgrounds learn about water comfort, boating safety, rowing, sailing, and kayaking as part of their PE program. The school provides funding and transportation while the boathouse provides safe coaches, equipment and curriculum.