A Splash of Color at the Kernersville YMCA
By Angela Smoak
If you have not taken a dive at the Kernersville YMCA Community Pool recently, you are in for a huge surprise. Mackenzie Smoak, a junior at East Forsyth High School and Senior Girl Scout, has transformed the pool as a part of her Girl Scout Gold Award.
Mackenzie’s project is called A Splash of Color at the Kernersville YMCA. Her project will help bring awareness to swimming in the community and will inspire swimmers from the four local high schools, as well as the summer swim team at the Kernersville YMCA. Mackenzie thought it was the perfect time for the project because not only is it the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scout Gold Award, but the Rio Olympics also take place this summer, which sparks an interest in swimming for many children.
The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest and most prestigious award in Girl Scouting. To earn this award, girls must complete a minimum of eighty leadership hours to create a lasting change in their communities. It requires that girls demonstrate significant leadership, planning, and organizational skills. Fewer than six percent of eligible Girl Scouts successfully earn the Gold Award. You may remember Mackenzie Smoak and Troop 40244 from the Paint Your Heart Out Project in 2009 when they painted 325 fire hydrants for their Bronze Award, and from 2012, when they earned their Silver Award for bringing awareness to the community about Girl Scouting by hosting a 100th birthday celebration of Girl Scouting at 4th of July Park. Mackenzie’s troop was recognized by the President of the United States for both of these awards, and she has been nominated once again to be recognized for this project.
For her, swimming is not just a hobby, but a love, and she always knew that it would be a part of her Gold Award. She swims for three teams: Tyde, a year-round competitive team; the Kernersville RipTyde summer league, where she is also a coach; and the East Forsyth High School Varsity Swim team. Mackenzie was rookie swimmer of the year her freshman year, most valuable swimmer her sophomore year, and has led her team to regionals for the past two years in the 100 backstroke. Many of the volunteers for this project were previous swimmers who shared in her passion for swimming, making this project even more special than she could have ever imagined.
At its core, her project consists of beautifying the four walls of the community pool. Walking into the pool area, you see a large main wall that recognizes the local high schools: Bishop McGuinness, East Forsyth, Glenn, and Walkertown High Schools. The wall has hand-painted mascots from each school, along with an American flag in the shape of the state of North Carolina. Team photos and swim caps are also on display. The mascots were painted by Brooke Burrows, graduate and former swimmer of East Forsyth High School, and swim records are displayed in wooden shadow boxes made by YMCA employee, Terry Spillman. Accompanying the wall display, swimmers who need a rest after their events will have colorful school benches made with the help of Jeff Oves and Boy Scout Troop 779.
The second wall has a hand painted wave of the Kernersville Riptyde as well as swim record boxes based on age groups along with a framed cap and team picture. Swim Gear of Winston-Salem designed and donated swim caps for the Walkertown swim team, since they did not have their own caps. The window walls display a set of Olympic rings with pictures of Olympic swimmers and quotes. The smaller window walls have wooden fish blowing bubbles painted by Girl Scout Troop 40244. The eye catcher is the “Splash of Color” wall. This wall features a mural crafted and painted by Tyde swimmer and West Forsyth student, Kayla Taylor. The mural shows a black and white swimmer diving into a colorful pool. Kayla dedicated part of the wall in Mackenzie’s honor, which includes a Gold star, plaque, and picture of Mackenzie.
Erin Hight, director of aquatics at the Kernersville YMCA, stated that Mackenzie’s project is going to provide great opportunities for aquatics advancement in the Kernersville community. It will promote safety around water as well as more advanced competitive swimming, which will benefit the aquatics community as a whole. Mayor Morgan presented a proclamation designating July 30th as: A Splash of Color at the YMCA Day in recognition of the dedication of the project. This day will be celebrated annually to promote safety around water.
Mackenzie Smoak’s intention was to make the community pool more inviting for swimmers and spectators alike. She hopes that children will want to learn how to swim and set goals so one day their names will be on the high school wall, or maybe even on an Olympic roster. The next time you are at the Kernersville YMCA, come see this amazing project. It may just tempt you to make a splash.