In anticipation of the swimming season on Lake Tapps, Bonney Lake police and East Pierce Fire and Rescue have expanded their seasonal bike and water safety education initiatives.

The public agencies will be more than two-thirds of the way through a tour of all Sumner and Dieringer district schools as of printing.

“This is the first year we’ve included all the (area) elementary schools,” Officer Todd Green said. “I believe we only covered Bonney Lake and Emerald Hills (the elementary schools closest to Tapps) previously.”

Following three lake deaths in 2012, tying 2010 for the deadliest summer on Tapps, the agencies decided to increase their coverage and thus increase awareness. Sgt. Ryan Boyle, leading the police department in its part of the water safety initiative, said it was a mission the mayor and the police and fire chiefs “really jumped on.”

Despite the pall of last year’s events, the officers keep the presentation light for the young students.

“Who likes to go swimming?” Green asked a crowd of kindergarten and first grade students at Donald Eismann Elementary May 1. “Everybody likes to go swimming? Isn’t it the most exciting thing to do in the summer?”

“Yes!” the students shouted back.

“Well we have a very special surprise for you,” Green said. “We, at the Bonney Lake Police Department, we brought out the police boat, and we parked it right outside those doors. When we’re all done here, we’re going to take you outside to see it. Isn’t that cool?”

The Marine Services Unit boat, outfitted for routine patrols and emergency operations on the lake, is an incentive for rapt attention to a presentation on proper life jacket fitting, information elementary school students might otherwise find dry.

The agencies may soon move on to presentations for the area middle and high schools, said East Pierce Public Education Specialist Dina Sutherland, leading the fire department’s part in the water safety initiative.

At Eismann, East Pierce personnel fitted participating students with life jackets. The fire department sells the jackets, as well as fitted bicycle helmets, at cost.

The importance of appropriately sized life jackets can’t be understated, the presenters explain to the students. Too small, and the jacket won’t float the wearer’s weight; too large, and it could slip right off.

Of course, that information is provided in an easy-to-digest format for young minds. Four Eismann students found themselves on a sinking “boat” — four chairs in the gymnasium — and ordered to put on their life jackets as quickly as possible.

One by one, the students walked up to Sergeant Daron Wolschleger, who pointed out what was wrong with each: this one was too large, that one was too small, and yet another was too old. Finally, one was just right, though Wolschleger demonstrated how to fasten it properly. The cartoonish extremes of the jackets make the kids laugh, but they also convey the information in a memorable way.

And memory will be vital to keep the kids safe, Green said.

“People need to realize they’re swimming in water that was snow a few weeks ago,” he said, referring to the cold water shock risk of Tapps. “A lot of it’s a matter of education.”

The police and fire agencies will speak at Dieringer and Daffodil elementary schools Friday, and Liberty Ridge May 16. Both will be present, along with Cascade Water Alliance and county safety agencies, at a North Tapps Middle School water safety summit May 22.

Life jacket and bike helmet fittings are available from East Pierce Fire and Rescue during business hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The department’s headquarters are located at 18421 Veterans Memorial Drive East in Bonney Lake.