It may not feel like lake weather yet, but a class for preteen and teen boaters will get them ready for the water by spring break.

The Forsyth-Cumming Optimist Club will launch its annual six-week boating license class for ages 11-16 on Feb. 16.

The class concludes with a boating safety test, and students who pass it will receive a Georgia license approved by the Department of Natural Resources, organizer Tim Edwards said.

“If you are between the ages of 12 and 16, you have to have a boating license in order to run a Jet Ski or a boat,” Edwards said. “That’s what this provides.”

Over the six-week period, Edwards and teens who have previously passed the test will help students tackle each of the chapters covered in the handbook.

The course, which has been offered locally about 10 years, has a 100 percent success rate for students, Edwards said.

Many of the teens join the Crew on Lanier following completion of the class, he said.

The co-ed group of ages 11-18 meets for boating activities on Thursday nights in April through October.

In the colder months, they gather at the Deer Creek Shores Presbyterian Church for land-based training and holding the license course.

“They have a lot of fun,” Edwards said. “That group focuses on boating education and just being on the lake.”

The Optimist Club organizes the classes and club as part of its efforts to work with local youth, he said.

Other activities throughout the year include an oratorical contest, golf outing and track meet.