One art teacher's love of swimming is matched only by her love for the community

Sandy Paisley's father needed a way to keep her and her six siblings from disturbing their mother while she rested after her third-shift job. So, while most kids only dream of having a pool in their backyard, for Sandy it became a reality. Little did she know it would instill in her a lifelong passion for protecting the community.

As the family’s pool neared completion, Sandy was off to Melrose-Mindoro swim lessons - with the expectation she would bring the knowledge home to teach the rest of her siblings. At 14, she was taking advanced lifesaving classes so she could help instructors with swim lessons. When she turned 17, she earned her water safety instructor certification allowing her to begin teaching lessons on her own and training people in CPR. Clearly, Sandy was no stranger to the Melrose-Mindoro swim program, so it comes as no surprise that by 1989, she had taken on the role of swimming lessons director at the newly built Melrose-Mindoro Pool.

Melrose-Mindoro has been offering free swim lessons to local children since — well, let’s just say they’re the same ones Sandy took growing up. And now she, along with the three other instructors, teach an average of 350-400 kids to swim each summer.

There are seven levels of lessons, and Paisley’s favorite to teach is the first one, ‘Water Exploration,’ consisting of 4- and 5-year-olds. “The little ones, when they first come, I love teaching them,” she says. “They’re just really fun.”

Paisley is also the art teacher for kindergarten through sixth grade at Melrose-Mindoro Elementary School. She loves when the kids slowly put together where they recognize her from. “All summer long, I’m in a onesie,” she says. “And then I’m in the classroom and I’ve got regular clothes on. And they’re looking at me, and then all of a sudden one of them goes, ‘Whoa, you’re the swim teacher!’”

So, what sparked this passion for spreading water safety and CPR training across the community? Like a lot of good things, Sandy’s passion to protect was born from tragedy when a fellow high school student drowned in the river.  “I thought, this is so preventable and people need to be taught how to help or save themselves,” she says. “That’s what drives me to help these kids learn to swim.”

Much of Paisley’s life has been, and will continue to be, spent in the water. “I swim every day,” she says. “I have to swim. It’s so relaxing. I have to have that. It’s what keeps my cool and keeps me at an even-keel.”

The community sure is lucky Paisley’s father put that pool in the backyard all those years ago, spawning Sandy’s love of water and allowing her passion for teaching others to swim to flourish.

Sandy began transitioning out of the pool manager and director position just last year, marking her 33rd year running the Melrose Area Pool, having turned more than 240 area youths into lifeguards fully trained in CPR. She will phase out of managing and teaching swim lessons, but will continue to instruct CPR training. Sandy’s developed love for the water surely made an impactful splash in the community that will live on for many years to come!

Melrose-Mindoro swim lesson inquiries can be directed to Jaime Koss at koss@mel-min.k12.wi.us