Jones wraps up last summer at the Kimball swimming pool

Brooke Jones has worked at the Kimball Public Pool for the past seven summers. Unfortunately, this will be her last summer working at the pool, but she is leaving having learned and taught some valuable lessons.

In the summer of 2007, Jones got her first job, as a lifeguard at the Kimball Public Pool.

"I guess it was the cool thing to do. Everyone wanted to be lifeguards at the pool. I really liked to swim at the time, and it just seemed like it would be a fun first job," Jones said.

What Jones hadn't anticipated was that her interest in lifeguarding would grow. She did graduate high school and she ended up going to college in Kearney.

"I didn't expect to get so interested in the safety aspect of the job. Like when I went to Kearney for school, I worked at the YMCA there. Their lifeguards took things much more seriously there, and I learned a lot and I brought that back here to Kimball," Jones said.

Even though Jones spent the majority of the year in Kearney working toward a degree in dental hygiene, she never forgot about the things she wanted to bring with her to Kimball when she returned for the summer. As she worked her way up to pool manager, she began to introduce the methods she learned while working at the YMCA in Kearney.

"We did drop drills in Kearney, and that was really beneficial. It kept everyone on their toes and so I started that here too," Jones said.

The drop drill that Jones practiced with her pool employees involved a black in color dummy being taken to the bottom of the pool. When on the bottom of the pool the dummy looks like a child laying on their side. This drill was done several times with each lifeguard at random times. It allowed Jones to be able to see if her lifeguards were paying attention. These drills are done randomly and Jones enlists the help of kids at the pool. Since the dummy easily rolls up, Jones gives the dummy to a kid at the pool and has them drop it in the pool. Then they time how long it takes the lifeguard to go get the dummy.

"The goal is to see and retrieve the drop drill dummy within two minutes. Two minutes because if a person is underwater any longer than two minutes brain damage will start to occur. So we try for under a minute, but everyone is under two minutes at this point," Jones said.

Since Jones takes the drop drills very seriously, if any of her lifeguards were to fail a drop drill, it would mean that their job was on the line.

"This is supposed to make sure that they are paying attention and reacting quickly, if they didn't then, yeah, their jobs would be at risk, because a kid would be at risk. Thankfully, everyone has been doing really well with the drop drills and everyone gets them," Jones said.

The drop drills are not the only training that Jones implements throughout the summer. She also makes sure that the lifeguards participate in night training every Wednesday.

"Before, the training was there. It just wasn't as strict. Now, we run drills and then we critique and see how we can improve," Jones said.

Jones reflected on her years spent at the Kimball public pool and the things she has learned from the experience.

"I have learned a good work ethic here. I learned how to manage and responsibility. I think it has been a really awesome job because it gave so much to me while I was able to give back to the community," Jones said.

Jones also shared the sentiment that the pool is a good place not just for teens to learn responsibility and have their first job, but also for younger kids to just have a place to go during the summer days.

"Some kids, all they have is the pool. I think it's a really important part of the community, and I think that Kimball will suffer without it," Jones said.

At the city council meeting on August 5, Jones stood in front of the city council and gave them an update on the pool's progress this past summer. She did not hold back when she said that, although she is not an expert, she can tell that the pool is in need of some repairs. This was taken seriously, and City Administrator Daniel Ortiz already had plans for having the pool checked out once it is closed for the summer.

After Jones presented, Mayor James Schnell presented her with a certificate of appreciation for all of her hard work throughout the years and all that she has contributed to the community.

"You have worked very hard for us, and we all notice and appreciate what you've done. We wish you all the best wherever your future takes you," Schnell said.

It was after that that Jones shed tears as she accepted the award.

"I know it must be strange to love a pool this much, but I do. And I see it as an important part of the community and it gave me my first job and I just really hope to see it stay open for many more years," Jones said.

Jones also offered her help in selecting a new pool manager. She expressed the importance that the new manager have lifeguard experience and be able to keep teenagers in line while still managing to be on their side.

"You have to be firm with them and make sure they listen, but you can't be so ruthless that they hate you. Also, someone with lifeguard experience to keep up with the training. It would be weird to have a manager that doesn't know as much as their teenage employees," Jones said.

Jones is engaged and seeking work as a dental hygienist. She said that her and her fiancé are looking for a happy medium between Kimball and Kearney. Unfortunately, her path in life is taking her away from Kimball, however, Jones still expressed a want to be in Kimball.

"It's unfortunate that there's only one dentist in town, and they don't need a dental hygienist. But, if the opportunity arose to come back to Kimball, I would like to," Jones said.