A drowning tragedy was averted in August thanks to the actions of two Take Two teachers and a student.

During the Ardmore City Schools board meeting Monday night, De’Drien Price and Charlie Jones, along with sophomore Dakota Rogers received citations from State Rep. Tammy Townley and State Sen. Jerry Alvord for their actions in rescuing and reviving a student.

“I am proud that you are from our area, both Sen. Alvord and myself,” Townley said.

The incident took place at the start of school during a trip to the lake. Take Two Director Stephanie Hacker said the first eight days of school are really vigorous.

“We work them pretty hard on team building and expectations,” she said. “We finish it off with a trip to Tucker’s Tower and to the lake. The kids either fish, swim or play football on the beach and have a picnic.”

Two of the students went into the lake and swam toward the buoy. One of the students, Rogers, said he saw his classmate with his head above the water, yelling for help. He reached his friend and provided assistance.

“I kept holding him above water to get him up above the water to get him more air,” Johnson said. “Then I needed more air and we both started drowning and the two teachers got out there.”

Both Jones and Price had been posted up at the lake by Hacker to provide help should it become necessary. Both are first-year teachers at Take Two.

“I saw Dakota screaming for help so I got out there as quick as I could,” he said. “I am very grateful for saving his life and making sure he was alright. Honestly, without Dakota, I would not have known what was going on at the time. He really made the situation known that it was dire.

“Whenever I got out there, as strong as a swimmer that I used to be, I had double Achilles tendon surgery a long time ago. I was pretty tired when I got out there. I was trying my best to come back but I was also yelling for help because I did not think I was going to make it back all the way back up there.”

Dakota said he started swimming back and after Jones reached him but due to fatigue, he started drowning. Price reached him and brought him safely to the shallow end of the lake.

When his fellow student reached shore, Rogers remembered CPR being administered.

“The other kid, when he got up to the beach, he was purple, but he did come back alive on the beach after we gave him CPR,” Dakota said.

Price said both he and Jones saw there were two kids in distress. Jones reached them first and checked the situation out and was able to determine it was simply not a case of horseplay.

“We heard them screaming before,” Price said. “Mr. Jones went and checked and started yelling in distress that we need help.”

Price recalled that he froze momentarily, realized there was an emergency situation and responded.

“We made our way out there and we were able to get the child back to shore,” Price said. “I started some CPR, and we eventually got him back to consciousness and the paramedics showed up.”

Price said it was not the first time he had been in the situation, responding previously to an emergency involving a neighbor.

“It was an exciting first week of school,” he said. “It is my first year at Take Two and the first trip that we take.”

When asked about the incident and responding to his classmate’s emergency, Rogers said his instincts took over.

“It was scary,” he said. “I found out about myself. It doesn’t matter how deep the water is, I can tell you that. I thought I was going to drown there too. I am not going to lie. I was scared. But I lived through it.”

In awarding the citations, Alvord said what the Price, Jones and Rogers did in a moment’s notice, they had no choice. They did what had to be done.

“That is truly something that we don’t have enough of,” Alvord said.