Students don’t see her too often, but if your gym class is using the pool, you will walk in to her standing on deck, red rescue flotation device in hand and a smile on her face. Rosalyna Ross has been Niles West’s very own life guard since 1994.

“I’ve always had a passion for swimming ever since I was little,” Ross said. “I was lucky enough to have a pool in my school [Swift High School in Chicago] and I started swimming in 5th grade.”

When she wasn’t swimming, Ross helped her swim coach with the little kids in teaching them how to swim. Soon, Ross became a Junior Life Saver.

“When we had our swim unit for gym, I never missed a day,” Ross said smiling. “I just loved being in the water and didn’t want to miss one day of it.”

Not only is Ross a life guard at West, she is also a supervisor of lifeguards for five Evanston beaches. Ross spends most of her time in the head beach office and then drives around to each Evanston beach to check up on the lifeguards there and how well or poorly they are doing their job.

“I really love life guarding here [at West] because there is such a diverse group of students who are very nice. The students here seem more down to earth than the young people I have experienced at the beaches in Evanston,” Ross said.

“She is definitely a valuable extra set of eyes with the students, because us teachers can’t oversee the whole pool by ourselves,” gym teacher Jason Macejak said.

When asked to describe life guarding in one word, Ross responded with “safety.”

“You always have to keep your eyes open and scanning the pool. It is my job to prevent students from drowning, so I need to stay attentive and on my toes,” Ross said.

“Ross makes sure students are involved when swimming, and helps them with their technique when they do their laps at the beginning of class. It’s great to have her here as a lifeguard for our school,” Macejak said.