(bright gentle music) - [Narrator] Tonight, swim safety and race.

- She watched her son drown.

She could not swim.

- Just like a river going downhill.

- [Narrator] Then, a look inside the mind of Rhode Island PBS' "Pollywog Pond" creator.

- I always thought I had to work, and this is not work.

- [Narrator] And a Coventry man's mission to get kids outdoors.

(bright inquisitive music) (bright inquisitive music) - Welcome to "Rhode Island PBS Weekly."

I'm Michelle San Miguel.

- And I'm Pamela Watts.

It's the heart of the summer when many Rhode Islanders are spending their days at the beach, splashing about in the ocean.

- But studies show that a surprising number of American children cannot swim.

Last September, producer Isabella Jibilian reported on the often tragic issue of swim safety and how some Americans are at greater risk than others.

- One night, phone call, woman sobbing on the phone, telling me that her child had drowned at five o'clock at Lincoln Woods.

- [Narrator] It was the early 90s, and Ray Rickman was a Rhode Island state representative.

- And the coroner had his body and would not release it.

She was Islamic, and I know enough about religion to know you're supposed to be buried within 24 hours.

I called the coroner and he wouldn't release the body.

In fact, he hung up on me.

And I walked over to the Capitol, two blocks, saw the governor without appointment, and said, "Governor Sundlun, I need you to get this done."

- [Narrator] Rickman was able to get the teenage boy's body released, but he couldn't forget this mother's pain.

- She watched her son drown.

She could not swim.

Can you imagine?

You can't imagine.

- In the United States, an average of 11 people are drowning every day.

So we're losing 4,000 people a year to drowning.

It's the leading cause of death for children from one to four.

- [Narrator] Mara Gay was an avid swimmer growing up.

Today, she's on the "New York Times" editorial board.

- Drowning is something that affects Americans of all backgrounds, however, it does disproportionately affect minorities, and in particular, Black and Native communities.

- [Narrator] According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black children are 1.5 times more likely and Native American children are two times more likely than white children to die of drowning.

Gay says, for African Americans, the gap is rooted in history.

- It goes really deep.

So Black Americans, many people know we were not allowed to learn how to read during slavery.

Many times, they also weren't allowed to learn how to swim, and that's because it would've made it easier to escape to freedom.

Dogs couldn't track your scent in water, which was known among enslaved Americans.

During segregation, you had public pools that were not open to Black Americans.

- [Narrator] And after segregation, many Black Americans were still unwelcome.

Storyteller V. Raffini grew up in Rhode Island.

- We were like around 9, 10.

This was '68, '69.

Pools weren't segregated, but they were racist.

And when we got there, we dealt with the racism.

We've had our lunches stolen, we've had them smashed, spit on our food and leave it, so you could see this.

I can remember them calling us names like the Walking Tootsie Roll, or there's a Hershey bar in the pool.

And you know, all straight-out coming out with the N word.

It was shocking to us and it hurt our feelings, but it also made us angry.

So we end up getting into fights at the pool and getting kicked out of the pool, and you know, not able to come back for that summer.

- [Narrator] Intimidation wasn't the only way African Americans were driven out of pools.

- Many communities across the south, but also elsewhere unfortunately, chose to fill in, destroy, or close their public pools, rather than allow Black Americans to swim in them.

So white wealthier Americans who were able to started forming their own clubs, their own neighborhood associations that were of course segregated, and the rest of America was shut out.

You would never take similarly your child and put them in a car without a car seat, and yet, we find it completely acceptable in American society to allow generations and millions of children to grow up without learning how to swim or be safe around the water.

- [Narrator] In Rhode Island, multiple generations of the Willis family are working to reverse that trend through their business, Orca Aquatics.

Wayne Willis- - Two more 25s, just focus in.

- [Narrator] And his son, Dylan- - 1, 2, 3, 4.

- [Narrator] Coach the swim team- - Four, one- - Wayne's daughter, Sydney, and wife, Joanna, teach lessons and his sister, Leslie, manages arriving families.

Some of their students are able to learn for free, thanks to Ray Rickman.

- Our number one goal is to teach now low-income children to swim and to avoid drowning.

- [Narrator] He started a program called Swim Empowerment to sponsor swim lessons for Black and low-income youth.

It was a promise to a heartbroken mother.

- This is my commitment to her.

- [Narrator] He raises money for the effort at his bookstore and museum, Stages of Freedom.

- Here's first edition, "A Story of Race and Inheritance."

It is autographed by Barack Obama and the last one sold for 4,200.

When you get 5,000 bucks, that's 50 kids learning how to swim from one book.

You go, "Are you kidding me?"

- [Narrator] 2,600 children have learned to swim through his program so far.

Some go to Orca Aquatics, others to the YMCA, but lessons are only the beginning.

- I have these 5-year-old Black kids say to me, "Okay, Mr. Rickman, will you pay for me to join the Y now?

"Those five people I was swimming with, "they're all joining the Y next week, can you pay for me?"

I say, "No, I don't have the money."

- I've spent a lot of time calling for more free swim lessons.

I believe firmly that that's a part of the solution.

But what I've found is actually that the reason so many Americans can't swim is because they don't have safe places to learn to do so.

Public pools are the critical piece of this puzzle.

So it would be the equivalent of calling for education for all Americans without having any schools.

- [Narrator] Orca Aquatics has felt that squeeze.

In August, a chlorine explosion occurred at the North Providence Pool, closing the facilities where they usually ran programs.

For weeks, they called countless pools across the state and were repeatedly turned away.

Until the problem is fixed, they're practicing at Rhode Island College's pool, but have had to cut back swim lessons from seven days a week to three.

The shortage of pools has inspired Ray Rickman to pursue a new dream.

- And we're doing the first draft of a proposal to build a $20 million Olympic plus swimming pool for the people of Providence to come free to swim.

And again, I told you it's for everybody, the richest people on the east side and the lowest income folks from Silver Lake.

And we're gonna get it done.

- [Narrator] The next steps, Ray Rickman needs to get Rhode Island Senate President and Speaker of the House on board so that the pool can eventually be added to the state budget.

- Swimming is one of the most exciting things you can do.

You don't know that until you do it.

That's what I hope for this whole community.

- Up next, last September, we introduced you to some new faces in the Rhode Island PBS neighborhood.

The critters from our locally produced children's program, "Pollywog Pond."

The stars of the show are made by an artist who is both puppeteer and video game creator, and he does it all from his Rhode Island home.

(gentle music) ♪ Hello there and welcome ♪ ♪ It's great to see you drop by ♪ - We were just talking about how lucky we all are to be such good friends.

- [Narrator] This cast of characters from the new Rhode Island PBS children's show, "Pollywog Pond," spring from the imagination of Bill Culbertson.

- Just like a river going downhill.

(growls) - [Narrator] Who says he sees himself as just a big kid.

- I like to think I'm an 8-year-old, so that was a good time, a lot of things happening, and you're kind of on the border to understanding adult things, but you still want a foot back there.

- [Narrator] Culbertson's path to programming for children started as a fine arts student, earning a graduate degree in sculpture from Rhode Island School of Design.

- Just as I graduated, Hasbro was reintroducing GI Joe, the three and three quarter inch one, and they were just starting to work on those sculptures and they needed a sculptor.

I applied for the job, got hired before the end of the interview, and that's how it all started from there.

It was basically dumb luck.

- [Narrator] Not only did he begin sculpting the action figures for Rhode Island-based toy company, Hasbro, he actually became one.

His department was designing so many dolls, anew soldier in the series had to be farmed out to a freelance artist.

- Was supposed to be looking like Robert Redford.

Didn't look like him at all, so they said, "Well, we've gotta redo it," and it's money to do that, and then somebody said, "This looks like Culbertson."

So they all came around and sat behind my desk and was like, "What?

Oh God, it is.

"It looks like him.

What a waste of money."

So instead of redoing it, they just named him Wild Bill, and I became the character.

- [Narrator] Wild Bill, as the doll was named, kept Culbertson busy, as well as sculpting popular Hasbro toys, like My Little Pony.

- We did ponies, Charmkins, boy's toys, girl's toys, preschool.

I actually benefited, because I can sculpt any category.

- [Narrator] And that led to other make-believe worlds.

Culbertson decided to become a freelance artist, modeling toys for Disney and Nickelodeon.

- And I slowly built up a clientele.

I worked a lot with "Sesame Street," Jim Henson.

I learned how to do the puppet stuff, mainly with working with people at "Sesame Street."

Jim Henson would tell you how to work a puppet, it's not like this, it's you go forward, the bottom.

When we talk, our top of our head doesn't go up and down, our jaw goes up and down.

So little things like that.

- What is it about being a puppeteer that intrigues you?

- I guess just that you can make that thing come alive, and it has a personality, but you know how it's gonna react to somebody.

You know, as soon as you put the puppet on, he's automatically doing something.

And I may not even be paying attention, but he's still doing something.

- Did you ever think you'd be doing this as a career?

- No, because I always thought I had to work.

And this is not work.

- [Narrator] But it does take creativity.

Culbertson began crafting his own puppets at home, first sketching them out, and then sculpting the animals of "Pollywog Pond."

- This one's Berb, he's the big one with all the personality.

This is Derb, so they're in scale with each other.

Here's Waddle, the pink female.

- [Narrator] Culbertson transformed a spare room into his Hoopla Productions studio, and had to learn a new skill to bring his crew to life.

- I started sewing, and I didn't know how to sew, so I got my mom's old Singer sewing machine, it only goes forward and backwards.

And through trial and error, ended up learning how to sew in the seams and all that stuff.

And sort of like in the movie "Alien" where there's all those mutations and stuff, I've got lots of mutations of these until we got to the ones that were just right.

So this is the third project, and I told you it's the humanoid figure.

- [Narrator] As Culbertson was making creatures and developing his children's program, he started teaching computer generated 3D drawing at New England Tech for students learning to design video games.

- It's the human figure.

You're gonna be accentuating the muscles, exaggerating them, kinda like a Marvel superhero type of thing.

Student came up and said, "Do you wanna make a game with your characters?"

Why didn't I think of that?

So we did, and in three months, we built the basic framework of "Pollywog Pond," the video game.

As soon as the puppet starts to move, we gotta move the tree with it.

- [Narrator] "Pollywog Pond" immerses the puppets in a video game environment.

- So now the puppets, live puppets, are in the game, and it's a unique look, different than the other shows we've seen out there.

It's where it's supposed to be.

It's the world I wanted, and it's all there.

- [Narrator] As an example of how his world works, I took a dip into "Pollywog Pond."

- Hi, miss Pamela.

- Hi Derb.

It's good to see you.

Interacting with Culbertson's puppet, we said our lines in front of a green screen.

Here at the park to pick up trash.

I see you have a trash bag, too.

And after Bill edits our session, here's what the finished product looks like when the computer-generated video game background is added.

- Are you picking up litter today?

- Yes, I am.

I'm here with Berg, Waddle and Weep.

- We're a soft curriculum.

We're not doing A, B, C 1, 2, 3.

We're doing so social-emotional skills, which is critical in schools right now, especially after coming outta COVID.

Like, kids, they've missed stuff, so they need to be caught up.

- [Narrator] Culbertson hopes "Pollywog Pond" will make a big splash with preschoolers and their parents, by underscoring the message with original songs, such as this one with "The Voice" finalist, Michelle Brooks-Thompson.

♪ I'm having a perfectly awful bad day ♪ ♪ A terrible, lousy, sad day ♪ ♪ What's your name ♪ - Derb.

♪ I'd like to get to know you ♪ - [Narrator] Greg Cooney is musical director for "Pollywog Pond."

♪ Say it again ♪ - Derb!

Our themes are just like, what's happening in your daily life?

It doesn't have to be a big, complicated thing, just a simple, little thing that happens.

- You never know, you never know.

- [Narrator] Culbertson performs two of the puppets, Derb and Weep.

- Well, hello to you, too.

- [Narrator] And two other puppeteers handle Berb and Waddle.

But since Culbertson writes the scripts, he says there's a bit of him in all the characters.

- Those are all me.

It's different parts of my personality.

So when I watch the show, it's like, okay, what am I saying now?

Oh, and how am I gonna react like that?

But they're all different.

So it's like you take your personality and chop it up, and I know I'm gonna be this way and I'm gonna be this way with this character.

And the puppeteers we have are fantastic.

They have been able to just absorb the personalities of them.

And now I watch 'em, I go, "My God, it's real, it's over there.

"It's actually me, wow!"

It just blows my mind to see 'em.

- At the heart of your show, what do you want it to be for children?

- A safe place to go to, a place they trust.

I can go watch this and be interested in what they're doing, it's just like having friends, they're there, and maybe subliminally or somehow I'm learning from them.

- We knew you would make a great friend.

You had the right stuff.

You were kind, considerate, and cared about others.

- But I think that's part of what we're after, is how do you be a nice person?

Right, just be a normal, nice person in society.

- Finally tonight, we meet a man from Coventry who seven years ago was fishing in a local pond when a group of kids approached him and asked if they could borrow one of his fishing poles.

As we first reported in 2022, that encounter helped start a program that's had an impact on the lives of hundreds of young people, not to mention his own.

(bright gentle music) - My name is John Graichen.

I'm the founder of Keeping Kids Fishing.

(bright gentle music) What we do is each Sunday, I usually choose a lake in Coventry because it's a big shoreline.

I set up a table, I put fishing poles out, I put worms out, gear, dobbers, sinkers, anything the kids would need, I advertise it and the kids come and I show them how to fish.

And towards the end of the day, if they are into it, you know, they take their fishing and poles home with them.

(bright gentle music) - A baby one.

(bright gentle music) I caught seven fish, eight, around there.

- I taught myself at four years old, my dad worked a couple of jobs and my mom would bring my brother to softball.

I wasn't really into sports at four, so I would play along the shoreline.

There was a pond nearby, and like I said, I found some string, I put a hook, I found a hook, and then I dug up some worms and I was on my way.

And I realized that there's a lot of kids that, they don't have anyone to show them.

(bright gentle music) - Things are different nowadays, so kids are usually on the phone, so it's nice to have the kids outside doing things and not on their phones, right, Sam?

- One person brought her son, he was a gamer.

He was always in his room playing on his tablets and playing the games on the computer.

And she said she had to drag him out of the house to come to the event, and he had a T-shirt on that said, "I paused my game for this?"

And she brought him back, he had a good day, and he came back the next week with a friend.

And then the following week, he came back with two friends.

And now he's no longer in his room playing on the games, he's out fishing with his new friends.

(bright gentle music) This helps me, because I have severe neuro lyme disease and it causes anxiety and manic depressive disorder, and when you see the child catch their first fish, it just takes it all away.

- Favorite part about fishing is catching fish, 'cause you get to see what kind of fish you caught.

- [Dad] And how many did you catch today?

- One.

- Last year, we had a fundraiser at Camp West Wood in Coventry, and a little girl had won her first fish, the First Fish trophy.

And she came up to me with her mom and she asked me if she could give me a hug.

And I look at the mom and the mom nods, and so I gave her a hug, I said, "Thank you," I said, "Why would you give me a hug?"

And she says, "Well, you see this trophy?"

And I said, "Yes, you won the first fish," and then she goes, "No, you got this for me."

So I asked her, "Well, how did I get that trophy for you?"

She said, "You gave me a fishing pole, "you showed me how to use it, "you showed me how to cast "and how to reel it in and how to put the bait on, "and I caught a first fish.

"You did this, you caught me that first fish."

And I was really, really touched.

(bright gentle music) So this gives me a good feeling knowing that I'm, you know, giving them some education and hopefully some memories to carry on with them.

- There you go, that's all set.

- [Fisher] Thank you, sir.

- Today, Keeping Kids Fishing has given nearly 2,700 fishing poles with gear to children.

What a great program.

- It is.

- And that's our broadcast this evening.

Thank you for joining us, I'm Michelle San Miguel.

- And I'm Pamela Watts.

We'll be back next week with another edition of "Rhode Island PBS Weekly."

Until then, please follow us on Facebook and X and you can visit us online to see all of our stories and past episodes.

Just go to ripbs.org/weekly or listen to our podcast on your favorite streaming platform.

Goodnight.

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