BELLAIRE • MEMORIAL • RIVER OAKS • TANGLEWOOD • WEST UNIVERSITY

Swim for Dyslexia

By Mackenzie McAnear, The Briarwood School, School Buzz Editor | November 18, 2016

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The swimmers who participated in Swim for Dyslexia (from left) included Lucca Incerpi, Ashley Pawlak, Matthew Parker, Chip Blair, Doug Ginsberg, Ryan Ghiselin, Ava Ceraudo, Sean Church, Jakob Turpin, Jonathan Ghiselin and Reef Ellison. (Photo: Courtney Turpin)

On Oct. 10, students from The Briarwood School gathered in Galveston, Texas for the swim of a lifetime. This swim, promoted by Kerry Yonushonis who attempted to swim The Ocean’s 7 Swim Challenge, raised money for dyslexia awareness.

Briarwood is naturally linked to learning differences, like dyslexia, because Briarwood is a school for students with learning differences. Briarwood students from lower school to high school attended. There were many participants from many places. There was even someone from Massachusetts who attended the meet, which had 10 to 20 participants.

Doug Ginsberg, a fellow junior, attended the meet and said, “It was a great experience. I had fun swimming, and it was all for a good cause. I also got to know some of the lower school kids.”

Junior Doug Ginsberg proudly displays his “Doug the Dolphin” nickname after completing the swim. (Photo: Marsha Lehr)

Doug explained how the swim worked. Two kids swam between two professional swimmers while a lifeguard kept watch in a nearby canoe to ensure their safety. The distance for the swim was three miles, and it took roughly two and a half hours to complete.

“I got joy out of it (the swim) while also socializing with the kids on the boat. I did it because I enjoy doing triathlons; I’ve been doing them for many years,” Doug stated.

To help celebrate, multiple pictures were taken of the swimmers. Each had a creative swim nickname on his or her arm. Doug the Dolphin was this Briarwood star’s moniker. After a long day of hard swimming, everyone went home with pride in their hearts, knowing they took a stroke forward in teaching people about learning differences.