San Fernando Valley

LESSONS IN COOL: The best in school playground equipment: a pool.

The Los Angeles Unified School District has run its unique summer “portable pool” program for 40 years, and this year, along with about 30 other schools across the district, Van Nuys Elementary and Sharp Elementary School in Pacoima were among the schools chosen as host sites.

The 30-minute classes run for 10 days. With the exception of a two-summer hiatus during 1992 and 1993--when a shortened summer break sidetracked the program--thousands of elementary school kids citywide have learned the basics of swimming in these portable pools since the early 1960s.

This year, eight of the rectangular, three-foot-deep pools are being rotated around 32 schools.

When the two weeks are up, school staff take the pools apart, stack the pieces on a flatbed truck and drive to the next destination. It takes about half a day to assemble and disassemble the pools.

The district built up a fleet of 12 pools but several are in need of repair and not in use, said Don Wertz, a senior recreation director.

When asked how much she appreciated the chance to put down her speller and hop in the pool for a half-hour tutorial on the finer points of self-flotation, 7-year-old Tannya Byllatoro at Van Nuys Elementary gave this concise response: “Yippee! Yippee! Yippee!”

Then she took a deep breath, stuck her head under water and blew bubbles like a hot tub. Survival lessons, Southern California-style.