The summer Junior Lifeguard Program is teaching hundreds of Hawaii teens basic skills needed to one day become certified lifeguards.

About 150 to 180 teens are turning up for the free weeklong training courses on Oahu aimed at improving ocean safety at Ala Moana Regional Beach Park, Ehukai Beach Park, Kalama Beach Park and Makaha Beach Park.

During the training — 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays — teens take part in running, swimming, surfing and rescue exercises as well as CPR training. In addition, they learn how to recognize potentially dangerous situations in Hawaii’s ever-changing ocean waters.

After five days of working like a lifeguard under the hot summer sun, participants earn a certificate of completion.

In past years, the program was coordinated by Honolulu’s Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division and the North Shore Lifeguard Association. This year they teamed up with the Hawaii Tourism Authority, which allocated $200,000 for the program.

The funds have been disbursed throughout the islands to help cover operational costs and pay for new equipment, including surfboards, bodyboards and rescue tubes.

Kaiulani Bowers is one of the 12 certified lifeguards operating Oahu’s programs in tandem with a group of volunteers.

Bowers, 27, has worked eight years as a full-time lifeguard on the island’s eastern shores, patrolling beaches from Hanauma Bay to Kailua. This summer marks her sixth with the Junior Lifeguard Program at Ala Moana Beach Park, where she took part in the program as a tween and teen.

“I like to come back here and teach because this is where it all started,” Bowers said. Starting at age 12, she caught a 6 a.m. bus from her home in Manoa to attend the program. She returned for four subsequent years, mastering skills and pursuing her interest in becoming a lifeguard.

“That first week I fell in love with it,” she recalled. “It’s a job where you can help people, stay in shape and you get to be in the ocean.”

Bowers said her Junior Lifeguard instructor also went through the program when he was a teen. In addition, some of the kids she’s taught have gone on to become lifeguards.

Although encouraging participants to consider careers in ocean safety is one goal of the program, Bowers said the most important objective is making sure everyone is safe in the water. “If we can have more informed people in the water, not only are they going to be safe, but the people around them will be safe,” she said.

Bowers teaches teens to be confident first responders, emphasizing that they should give every potential rescue effort everything they’ve got regardless of conditions, even if “you’ve got nothing left.” Such determination is also useful in other areas of their lives, she said.

As a lifeguard, Bowers said, “Every day you come to work, no matter how long you do it … you don’t stop learning.”

The annual program, which got underway June 13, will continue running five-day sessions through July 22. Anyone who is interested in the program but missed the registration date may register with a parent or guardian on site at 8 a.m. on Mondays. The program is open to children ages 12 to 17, and participants must be able to swim.

Participants may take part in Oahu’s Junior Lifeguard championships on July 30. A state championships event is slated for Aug. 6 on Maui. Teens representing the state’s counties will compete in a 1,000-meter run, paddleboard relay, 200-meter swim and other run-swim-paddle combination relays.