More than 75 JROTC students train for water rescues
MUDDY CREEK TWP — Dakari Payne got into his swimming attire Thursday, June 15, in a seated position by pulling the pants onto his legs, squeezing his arms through the sleeves and his head through the collar before finally sealing the diagonal zipper on the torso.
A dry suit is made to keep its wearer safe from freezing waters in the event of an ice rescue, and although it was a warm day at Moraine State Park, Payne, a cadet in Seneca Valley Senior High School’s Junior ROTC program, wanted to try it out.
“I’m trying to get the most out of my training for my first year,” said Payne, a rising sophomore at Seneca Valley. “It has been pretty fun here.”
The Seneca Valley JROTC program is hosting students from several school districts inside and outside Butler County this week for a summer training session. Angelo Lettiere, first sergeant for Seneca Valley JROTC, said this is the first time the program has been able to have water rescue training since 2019.
MUDDY CREEK TWP — Dakari Payne got into his swimming attire Thursday, June 15, in a seated position by pulling the pants onto his legs, squeezing his arms through the sleeves and his head through the collar before finally sealing the diagonal zipper on the torso.
A dry suit is made to keep its wearer safe from freezing waters in the event of an ice rescue, and although it was a warm day at Moraine State Park, Payne, a cadet in Seneca Valley Senior High School’s Junior ROTC program, wanted to try it out.
“I’m trying to get the most out of my training for my first year,” said Payne, a rising sophomore at Seneca Valley. “It has been pretty fun here.”
The Seneca Valley JROTC program is hosting students from several school districts inside and outside Butler County this week for a summer training session. Angelo Lettiere, first sergeant for Seneca Valley JROTC, said this is the first time the program has been able to have water rescue training since 2019.
More than 75 students from school districts in Butler, Allegheny and Beaver counties are attending training at Seneca Valley Senior High this week, participating in several activities meant to teach them leadership. On Thursday, the students got to take part in water rescue training, hosted by the Butler County Water Rescue Team 300.
“The mission is to make them better citizens by giving them leadership skills,” Lettiere said. “We want them to have more hands-on training — you can see this stuff on TV, but they don’t get to do it themselves, feel what it’s like.”
Mark Adomaitis, chief of Water Rescue Team 300, headed the water rescue training at Moraine State Park. He said he's always happy to demonstrate water safety techniques to people.
“It’s educational for the kids; hopefully they will realize the importance of PFDs (personal flotation devices),” Adomaitis said. “Just getting the concept of, ‘Hold onto the rope and throw it to the person,’ that could save somebody’s life.”
Showing high school students that water rescue teams exist and constantly need volunteers also helps, according to Adomaitis.
“We educate them that there is a county water rescue team,” Adomaitis said. “If I can get one or two of these kids to volunteer, it makes our jobs a lot easier.”
The students spent several hours learning tactics from members of the water rescue team.
Scott Snow, a Team 300 member, demonstrated each tool the team has available for water rescue situations, while Adomaitis taught students how to perform a water rescue on a person at risk. Students also got to practice rowing rafts used in rescues and throwing flotation devices to people in the water.
Ashton Wilson, a senior command sergeant major at Seneca Valley, said that although he was staying at his school during the summer for the training, it has been enjoyable so far.
“It’s summertime; we’re here for the experience,” Wilson said. “We try to learn and help out as much as we can here.”
