Misty Belford
Certified ISR Instructor
North Brevard/South Volusia
321-267-8892
m.belford@infantswim.com
Water has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. I spend my free time enjoying various activities centered around water and I find the water to be a place of renewal and joy. When my first child was born in 2003 water took on a new meaning to me though. Suddenly, as a new mom, it was a place of potential danger. I knew without a doubt that my son had to have survival skills as soon as possible since he would be around the water quite a bit. I began researching various programs and found ISR. Compared to many other programs out there that would get my child comfortable with water, ISR actually provided skills for my child to save himself. I also found the ISR program to be based on solid research with a heavy emphasis on the safety of my child while in the program. As a college professor, I wanted to know that there was quality research behind the methods used to teach my child. At six months old my son was enrolled with a local ISR instructor and began lessons. Even though I had thoroughly researched the program and knew the goal of the lessons, I was amazed seeing my son roll over and float at seven months old.
My son continued with ISR lessons each summer and then in 2006 my daughter was born and began lessons as well. Each year my passion for the program grew and I became quite an advocate for the program, telling everyone I knew about ISR and the importance of water safety. In 2008, our local instructor was going to be out on maternity leave for most of the summer. My community was going to be without this resource during a critical part of the year. It was so important to me that the children in my community not miss out on this opportunity that I chose to complete the ISR training program and become an instructor myself.
My passion for ISR only grew when I started learning the more technical aspects of ISR and seeing firsthand the quality of the ISR program and techniques. I was absolutely amazed at the amount and quality of research that went into every aspect of the program and how thorough the instructor development program was. ISR instructors are true professionals that have been through a rigorous and challenging training program to ensure the safety of your children and the effectiveness of ISR lessons. I am very proud to be a member of the ISR team.
Since my certification as an ISR instructor in 2008 I have taught approximately 150 children through 4,500 lessons to utilize aquatic problem solving skills to save themselves in the event of an emergency. I have truly loved every minute of it!!!! There is no way to explain the feeling I have when I see a child master a survival skill in lessons because I know they will be okay if they ever have to use those skills. I have had three of my students put those skills to the test and save themselves in aquatic emergencies. I always hate to get the phone call that one of my students has found themselves in a dangerous situation but it is an amazing feeling to hear that they did exactly what they were supposed to do and are completely fine. I am a firm believer that ISR lessons are as important a part of parenting as feeding, changing and loving your child. There is no better gift that you can give a child than the chance to survive in that moment that you might not be able to be there.
Teaching children aquatic survival skills is not a job to me, it is a passion and I look forward to working with hundreds more children in our goal to make sure that not one more child drowns!
Please complete the CONTACT FORM for more information and a registration package. You can also call me at 321.267.8892. I look forward to working with you and your family!