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By Ken Jackson Staff Writer School is out, summer is in, and that means families are looking to slow down, take it easy and reach out to take in the areas recreation offerings. For those whose job is to offer those recreation programs, there is no slowing down now just the opposite. The summer is their crunch time. Take last week, for example. On June 18, recreation departments from Kissimmee and St. Cloud each participated in the Worlds Largest Swim Lesson. In cities all over the country, as well as in far off places like Australia and Japan, swim instructors herded children into pools simultaneously at 11 a.m. Eastern time to attempt to break a worlds record for the most individuals receiving a swim lesson at the same time. More than 100 youths participated at the Chris Lyle Aquatic Center in St. Cloud, where the Chick-fil-A Cow made an appearance. In Kissimmee, more than 400 children participated at the Makinson Aquatic Center, where groups like the Florida Guardian Ad Litem Program, Toho Water Authority and Target sponsored, gave presentations or volunteered. Mermaids from The Mernation helped pool instructions give tips on floating, breathing and some simple strokes. Officials will know next month whether the world record was indeed broken. Movie in the Park will return in July at the new Lakefront Park, with Escape from Planet Earth, a 2013 Canadian animated family film in 3-D voiced by the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker, William Shatner, Jessica Alba, Brendan Fraser and George Lopez, among others. The film will be preceded by RecFest, where ,beginning at 6 p.m., the department will have exhibitions and demonstrations about its summer offerings. Taina Toro of the Parks, Recreation and Facilities Department said the timing of it coincides with some of the departments biggest dates this summer. Well be celebrating National Parks and Recreation Month in July, she said. It will be right after our annual July 4th event, and since we had over 600 people come to our movie in May, which was a great turnout for the new park, and we want to build on that and capture that captive audience. In addition, the VIP (Volunteer in Parks) program also will resume in August or September, giving citizens an opportunity to take ownership of their parks with a day of clean-ups, spruce-ups and general upkeep of city facilities. Volunteers receive snacks, lunch and a free pass to return to facilities that are fee-based.

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Kissimmee recreation starting to heat up