In our community, we have a woman who spends the most of her time working with that extremely essential demographic, our community’s youth. Sacha Tapara – Beaton is the Education manager for Noosa Heads Surf Life Saving Club. Her portfolio is responsible for delivering School Programs, Lifesaving Education, Public CPR, Advanced Resuscitation, and First Aid. In addition to her regular tasks, she is a Volunteers surf lifesaver with Mooloolaba SLSC.
The school programs are a major aspect of her role.
These programs, which vary, include 31 schools from Gympie to Toowoomba with 3400 students visiting Noosa last year.
Water safety, rescue boards, rescue tubes, signals, and basic communication training are some of the topics among the programs offered. “As a result of these School Trial Programs, there has been a significant increase in young people moving on to do the full Bronze Medallion Course,” Sacha remarked of these courses.
The programs differ with an example being a one-day fun training session per week that lasts the entire term. Another is the 10-week course offered by Good Shepherd Lutheran College Noosaville, which includes 2-3 excursions to Noosa’s Main Beach.
To cover all of this, the Club employs a part-time Surf Education Coordinator and up to 35 casual instructors who help with the School Programs, all who are senior experienced lifesavers. It’s all worthwhile since the kids go out of the classroom and onto the beach and learn lifelong skills. The core program began about 20 years ago and has been ongoing ever since. Because of the success of these programs and other initiatives, there are now benefits to these students, some of which are very advantageous to our youth participants when it comes time to choose a job. The Australian Defence Forces has a strong partnership with lifesaving services, as well as paramedics and other emergency services, including the police community.
“Another eye-opener for our training teams has been the number of beach visitors who know little or nothing about what we (surf lifesavers) do. This is something we are working to change,” Sacha commented. As a result, it should come as no surprise that the Noosa Education Program is today regarded as one of the best in Australia. Sacha and her team’s commitment to our community is something of which we should be proud.
