November 22, 2000
Getting in the swim of things
Coast Guard diver guest speaker at Silver Lake Elementary
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
To the rapt attention of 35 elementary school students, Matt High explained his job of jumping out of helicopters.
An aviation survival technician with the United States Coast Guard, High is the guy who leaps out of the hovering helicopter into the water to rescue a distressed swimmer or boater. High is actually one of twelve rescue swimmers based at the Coast Guard Air Station in Traverse City.
But to the kids in the Extended Daycare program at Silver Lake Elementary School, High was the hero of the moment.
"I kind of want to do that," said Nathan Roszczewski, 10, a fifth grader at Silver Lake Elementary School. "I liked that he showed us the flares and that he lifted me up."
Roszczewski got 'lifted' while wearing a rescue harness, as High demonstrated for the audience how he hooks someone up so they can be lifted into the helicopter.
High also took students on a step-by-step tour of his equipment, including his life vest, complete with its dozens of gadgets all attached by string (so they won't float away if dropped during a rescue in the water.) He showed them the rescue basket, his wet suit, dry suit and gloves, flippers, goggles and mask, explaining when and how he uses each item. Flares, chemical lights and waterproof two-way radios wowed the kids, as well as High's knife, handy for cutting off parachutes during a pilot rescue.
He emphasized that all of the 270 rescue swimmers in the Coast Guard are always training so they will be ready when a real call for help comes in.
"We do one training flight a day involving a rescue swimmer," said High. "Even though nothing major has happened at this Air Station for six months, we are always training."
During his presentation, students peppered him with questions: do you swim in the winter, have you ever ridden in the cage, did you ever swim in shark water, have you ever seen a mermaid? Answering yes, no, yes and no, High turned the tables and asked students some questions: how many of you wear your lifejackets when on a boat? All hands shot up. The next question got far fewer hands: how many of your moms and dads wear their lifejackets in the boat?
"I rescue mom and dad more than I rescue kids," he told the audience. "It is very important that everyone wear their lifejacket."
Even before joining the Coast Guard, High witnessed firsthand the importance of swimming and boating safety during eight years spent as a lifeguard. A California native, he told students he was in college studying to be a teacher when he decided to find a job that would allow him to be in the water. He looked into the Navy's rescue swimmer program but was drawn to the Coast Guard because their rescue swimmers did not have dual duties.
Despite finally realizing where his future lay, he had to wait a few years to even get started.
"The Coast Guard had just started up a rescue swimmer program when I joined," High said. "But I had to wait three years to go to the school, serving with a small search and rescue unit in San Francisco."
High was the third in a monthly series of speakers that come to Silver Lake Elementary School and address students who stay for extended daycare. The program is called Friends of the Community and since it began last year, it has brought a doctor, firefighter, ambulance driver and an area K-9 team to the school.
"The students get to know different people in the community," said Cheryl Popard, program manager for the Extended Daycare program at Silver Lake Elementary School. "It may be something they want to do as a possible career. A lot of suggestions I get for visitors come from the kids."