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KIRKSVILLE, MO. -- Is your child looking to babysit this summer? The Adair County Family YMCA in Kirksville is offering a Safe Sitter course where your child can get certified.

It’s for young teen ages 11 to 17. During the 6 ½ hour course, participants will learn everything from and anything to help prepare them in case of an emergency.

“They will learn first aid safety, how to handle kids from all different ages, and how to determine what type of injury is serious enough to call the emergency system or just to handle it themselves,” said Membership and Wellness Director, Diane Corder. “They'll also learn how to start their own business and they'll learn all different kinds of facts on how to handle kids, from basic CPR to playing with the kids and interacting with them.”

The YMCA just became a registered site last week and has three certified trainers to help teach the course.

“Actually we've been approached a lot from the community asking if this is something that we offer, and as far as I am aware of, nobody in this area offered anything like this,” Corder said. “So we checked around and this was an incredible organization that we applied for and we’ve had a lot of interest in it since then.”

After the participants complete the course, they will be given a test in order to get certified.

“When the course is completed there is a test the kids will have to take in order to pass and to say, yes, they're certified,” said Corder. “Once they complete that test, it's a written test along with working with one of the CPR mannequins, they will graduate. We’ll actually have a little graduation ceremony and their parents can come and see what they’ve learned in that class.”

The course dates are May 19^th and again on June 23^rd. Registration deadline for the first date is May 14^th and for the second course, the deadline is June 18^th.

The cost is $25 for members and $35 for non-members. Scholarships are available to ensure that everyone that wants can participate.

You can call the YMCA at 660-665-1922 to inquire about registering.

To learn more about the Safe Sitter organization, contact national headquarters at 800-255-4089 or visit their website by clicking here.