(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Central High School in Pueblo teamed up with Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) to host a water safety event during a local football game on Saturday, Sept. 6, aiming to educate the community following several water-related deaths at Lake Pueblo.
The event was organized in response to six water-related deaths at Lake Pueblo this summer, with CPW identifying the lack of proper life jacket use as a major cause. The initiative seeks to promote water safety awareness and encourage the use of life jackets.
“I think it’s just very important to respect the water,” said Heather Huffman, Principal Secretary at Central High School.
“We really would love to see lifejacket use be like putting on your bicycle helmet or buckling your seatbelt, that it’s something you do every time you go enjoy the water,” said Ella Trask, Interpretive Naturalist at Lake Pueblo.
The idea for the event was sparked in July when Heather Huffman, a boater herself, recognized the urgent need to raise awareness about water safety. “I said, Hey, that’s something I think Central needs to do because I believe our youth need to be aware of water safety and not just use that the high school level, but of all ages,” said Huffman.
CPW’s life jacket loaner program, which began in June, provides stations stocked with life jackets of various sizes that visitors can borrow for the day. “Those stations are stocked with life jackets and various sizes that visitors to the park can just go grab one so that they can use it throughout the day,” said Trask.
To support the life jacket loaner program, CPW is accepting cash or check donations, while Central High School is collecting new or gently used U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets to distribute among community partners like the Boys and Girls Club.
Huffman emphasized the importance of setting an example for children, stating, “If parents wear a life jacket, a kid’s going to wear a life jacket.”
The partnership between Central High School and CPW aims to make life jacket use a habitual practice for all ages, potentially saving lives by preventing future water-related tragedies at Lake Pueblo.
All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by FOX21. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by FOX21 staff before being published.