OJH offers boater safety course

At OJH, seventh- and eighth-grade students have the option of taking a Boater Safety Course taught by teacher Diane Hubbard and Olney ISD Student Resource Officer Devin Wright. After they finish the course, students will complete and pass a 60-question exam and then they will receive a Boater Safety Certification License that is good for life.

“The curriculum is designed for persons of all ages and boating interests, be it sailing, skiing, fishing, paddle boating, cruising, personal watercraft, etc,” Wright said. “The goal of the program is to reduce boating accidents and violations while promoting legal, courteous, and responsible boating practices. Boating safety and responsibility are stressed throughout the course. Additional topics include ethics and courtesy, accident prevention, general information about boats, safe operating procedures, required safety equipment, boating laws and general boating safety concerns.”

Officer Wright started the course after seeing that knowledge of boat safety could have benefited others. “...before I came to Olney ISD as a school resource officer, I was a Lake Ranger for the Brazos River Authority stationed at Lake Granbury,” he said. “During that time, I encountered many boaters and spent hundreds of hours operating a boat in a law enforcement capacity. As a Lake Ranger, one of our main focuses was on education, and sometimes that comes through as enforcement action on the water. I investigated many boating accidents on the lake with injuries. Most of those accidents could have been avoided had the operators been through a Boater Safety Course.”

Now that he is able to teach the youth about the importance of boat safety, Officer Wright is confident in the youth of Olney to safely operate watercraft and to teach others the importance of boat safety.

“I hope that accidents and other boating/water- related injuries are reduced through this education,” Wright said. “ I am still a Reserve Lake Ranger at Granbury Lake with the Brazos River Authority. So, if you visit Granbury Lake this summer, I may see you on the water.”