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MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR
I would like to thank you for contacting ISR Northshore, and thank you for your interest in ISR Lessons! My name is Jennifer Laurent. I am married to my wonderful husband, Sam Laurent. We have a five-year old son named Chandler and a three-year old daughter named Juliana.
As a parent, as you know, our sole purpose in life is to protect and provide for our children. This is what led me to ISR. Although incredibly beautiful and peaceful, the pond and fountain in our yard also frightened us when Chandler became part of our family. With all of the preventative measures taken around pools, ponds, etc., drowning accidents continue to happen entirely too often. In my eyes, I felt that the only true way to protect our son was to prepare him for the worse-case scenario.
When our son was an infant, I started heavily searching for swimming lessons. At the time, most traditional swimming instructors were already finished with their last session of the year. I contacted every swimming program from Mandeville, Baton Rouge, and even Houma. I was willing to drive two hours a day one way at this time to make sure our son was safe in and around water, but I realized that four hours in the car every day would not do well with an infant. Without having an option like ISR in our area, we decided to enroll our son into "Mommy and Me" swimming Lessons. It was an absolute joy to be with him in the water to have fun and sing along with him, but it seemed that these classes were designed to make the children adapt to the water, not respect the water. I felt that if he were involved in a water incident that he would not possess the necessary skills to rescue himself and survive.
In 2018, we knew of two families in our community that had lost their children due to drowning. That’s when I realized that there was a need for ISR in my area. After many prayers, God led me to the wonderful opportunity to be the FIRST ISR Instructor all across the Northshore and Southshore in 2018.
In 2018-2020, I taught all across the Northshore and Southshore from Hammond, Ponchatoula, Covington, Mandeville, Lacombe, Slidell, Metairie, New Orleans in public pools, fitness centers, and residential pools.
What I soon learned in the ISR Program was a child-centered program, focused on empowering children and educating parents. I became a Certified Instructor set out to combine my passions and education into a fulfilling career. Watching a child be apprehensive at the start of lessons to watching their confidence blossom over a six-week period is an absolutely thrilling experience. Seeing a child roll over to float for the first time on their own still gives me chills. Hearing families, time after time, have a peace of mind because of ISR is very rewarding. Hearing a student use their self-rescue skills in an otherwise traumatic or deadly event; that is absolutely humbling.
It is my goal within the ISR program to empower children with the only layer of protection they are in charge of: The ISR self-rescue technique.
This technique, along with the parent education and progression of the swim-float-swim method, allows for a foundation of life-long skills; both in and out of the water.
My hopes and dreams are to fulfill my mission "Not one more child drowns" in our community, by reaching more families each year and by giving children a foundation of survival skills that can potentially save their life one day. I truly believe that every child that steps into my pool has a chance...a chance of a life. Don't let a moment steal a lifetime. Give your child the skills to survive!
Thank you for contacting ISR Northshore!
ISR Northshore
Jennifer Laurent, Owner/Founder