Ni Hao, thanks for reading this! This is Coach Lu. With over 2 decades of experience in teaching swimming, physical education, ESL and Mandarin Chinese, my students know I wear a few different hats. I am passionate about water safety and learning a new language is just super cool. Who is Coach Lu?
Growing up in Washington, I swan for and learned from renowned coach Jay Benner (club coach of Olympians Nathan Adrian and Dana Kirk). I went on to swim at Whitworth University where I was an All-American and place second in the state of Washington in the 100 Butterfly. Swimming at this level was an incredible experience.
I now serve as a swim coach at TTSC (Tigard Tualatin Swim Club), and I am also a teacher for the WLWV (West Linn/Wilsonville) school district. I taught Mandarin Chinese at West Linn and Wilsonville high school and now a K-12 substitute teacher. However, developing Lu’s Academy For Life, language and swim programs are my greatest professional passion.
Swimming has played a huge role as it saved my life. I learned how to swim when I was 7 years old and joined swim team to become a stronger swimmer. Even though I was a good swimmer, I realized quickly the ocean is not a swimming pool. As I found myself being swept further away from shore, I remembered I was taught not to fight the current but swim parallel to the current to find shore. Water is fun but it’s important to know your boundaries and have respect for the water. I am grateful for those lessons and firmly believe every child and adult has the ability to become a swimmer.
Learning how to swim is a life skill, one of the most important skill one can learn. At Lu’s swim school, our philosophy is to teach our students to over come their fears by believing and encouraging them through our teaching methods. As confidence and belief grows, skills improve and this pattern creates success that will surprise and inspire you. We teach life long enjoyment of water but also teach the important safety skills and healthy boundaries as there are many different bodies of water.
I am honored to be in a position to not only be able to give back to my community by teach swimming but also mentor and train young adults in high school and university. I take them under my wing and teach them not only how to be the best swim instructor but also to be responsible, dependable and respectful young adults. I hand select each instructor and make sure they are properly trained in teaching water safety and also understands the foundations of child development.
It is truly our passion to teach, encourage and believe in our students. We are fueled by the fact that there lies so much potential in every person. Our methods is developed over years of experience. We have found the sweet formula that works!
I hope I get the chance to spend some time with your family this season. My husband and I want to make sure we have done all that we can to give your child a wonderful and rewarding experience. As parents ourselves, we understand the importance in finding a quality, safe and a fun program for your children.
Who is Luan Lao shi, Teacher Luan in Mandarin? My family and friends have often wondered how language, culture and travel became so important to me. As a little girl, being the first generation raised in America, I lived between two worlds on a daily basis. At age 7, I spoke 4 languages with some fun persuasion from my father. The things we are exposed to as young children help shape who we become as adults.
Now raising two sons, I understand the importance of early childhood development. The first years are crucial to their brain development. As an ESL teacher, I discovered the amazing work on second language acquisition being done by Dr. Pat Kuhl at the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences which you can now see in her TED talk.
Many of our students are currently studying Mandarin Chinese at their local schools and are seeking more support to achieve excellence in their class. Some students are home schooled and are interested in learning a second language for their future. We offer language classes to all levels and ages.
We hope that you’ll join us on this rewarding journey.
luswimschool.com 