Instructors are the heart of Safe Sitter®! But there are some Instructors where words just aren't enough to express that sentiment. Lynda Nicholas, Site Coordinator and Instructor at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, OH, is one of those people! Like Dr. Keener, who took the tragedy of the death of a child's life and started Safe Sitter®, Lynda did something wonderful with Safe Sitter® from a personal tragedy.

 

Two years ago, Lynda's husband, Bobby, passed away suddenly. Instead of sending flowers, her fellow Safe Sitter® Instructors established a scholarship fund to teach Safe Sitter® at the elementary school her husband had attended. Lynda taught the class four months later in honor of her husband at the school, now located in a low-income area of the city.

 

"Bobby was always proud of his roots," said Lynda. "The neighborhood has changed since he was a boy but he always had mischievous and fond memories of his grade school days."

    

Along with another Instructor, they taught Safe Sitter® to 12 students. "This was a very rewarding class for Michelle and me," Lynda said. "Each student sent me a handwritten thank-you note for bringing this class to them. I think this would have pleased my late husband!"

    

Lynda has been making a difference to the children in the greater Cincinnati area, northern Kentucky, and southeast Indiana since she started teaching Safe Sitter® 22 years ago! "I've found it rewarding to watch the students transform into Safe Sitters by the end of the class," Lynda said. "We teach 11 to 13 classes a year and take the program to schools, churches, fire houses, libraries, YMCA's, Girl Scout troops, in addition to the hospital's main campus and satellite locations."

    

And for 22 years, Lynda has taught every one of those classes, except for two, totaling over 3000 students! "Of course my children and nieces and nephews have taken Safe Sitter®," said Lynda. "I even taught the life-saving skills to my family members."

   

Those lessons have paid off! "My sister-in-law used what I had taught her when my niece choked on hard candy," Lynda recalled. "I have also used the choking rescue skills on two members of my family at each end of the age spectrum. My family still talks about the time I rescued my nephew who was choking when he was an infant. Then recently, I used abdominal thrusts on my 84-year-old mother-in-law who is handicapped and choked on celery while sitting in a recliner."

   

Lynda, a pediatric nurse, said she has loved to be around young children for as long as she can remember.  "I would rush to my neighbor's home after school to play with their baby and little ones while the mother made dinner and I was only nine or ten years old! Later, I babysat for this family."

    

The cycle of love for children continues. "Some of our Instructors' family members have been the Guest and then have taken Safe Sitter®. This has been fun for all of us when they are in class!" 

Are you a new Safe Sitter® Site Coordinator and have questions about how to organize your program? We want to help! Sign up to participate in a FREE 15-minute Webinar on Wednesday, February 10^th, where the "nuts and bolts" of Safe Sitter® are presented. The Site Coordinator Webinar is now presented the 2^nd Wednesday of every month at 12 noon eastern time.  

    

Topics include ordering supplies, accessing scholarships for your students, what to send National Headquarters after your classes, how long to keep your Registration Forms, etc. You can ask questions at the end or get detailed information about the material presented. We're not charging a fee, however, registration is required and limited. You can now register online for this free Webinar. If you have questions, email support@safesitter.org or call (800) 255-4089 ext. 13.