Kids hop to it

After two hours of jumping, 8-year-old Trey George wiped the sweat off his brow and sat down, exhausted.
His arms were tired, his legs were tired and he was out of breath.

He also could feel his heart beating faster.

It was the exact response physical education teacher Sharon Wood wanted to see after Seymour-Jackson Elementary School participated in Jump Rope for Heart this week.

Hundreds of students jumped, hopped, leaped, skipped and bounced their way to healthier hearts Wednesday and Thursday and raised more than $5,000 for the American Heart Association. Cortland Elementary School students put their time in jumping Friday.

“It’s fun because you get to jump rope a lot, and it helps your heart,” George said. “It also brings in money to help other people with heart problems.”

Selena Peters, 7, and her cousin, Meg Lake, 7, partnered to jump together.

Collecting around $80, Peters was named one of Jackson’s Heart Heroes.

“I like that you are helping other people,” she said. “And it’s giving you energy so you don’t have heart problems.”

Students raised a total of $5,100.66 by collecting pledges from family members, friends and neighbors.

“I’m proud of how hard they worked to raise money and how much effort they are putting into jumping,” she said.

The amount was up from last year, and Wood said she thinks one reason is because this year’s campaign featured kids with heart disease.

“We read about two brothers their age that had to have heart surgery and the kids got to see their picture,” Wood said. “I think that really had an impact on them because it showed them that kids are affected by heart disease too.”

Wood said she has been involving her students in Jump Rope for Heart for the past 20 years. She started at Margaret R. Brown Elementary School and brought the program to Jackson and Cortland about five years ago.

“I did Jump Rope for Heart as a kid,” she said. “It’s a good way to teach kids about caring for others.”

Money raised from the students goes to support American Heart Association research and programs.

Heart disease and strokes are two of the leading causes of death in the United States, according to the AHA.

Every year, about 870,000 people die from cardiovascular disease and stroke, statistics show.

“It’s something we can do to help ourselves physically and it’s a good service project for our schools,” Wood said of the program.

Over the years, Wood said local students have raised more than $100,000 for the AHA.

Winners

Jackson Elementary 2009 Jump Rope for Heart results:

Top 3 Heart Heroes (raised the most money):

First place –— Aydan Pheral, $302

Second place — Daniel Rieman, $246

Third place — Brooke Neidige, $171

Heart Heroes who raised $75 or more:

Darren Beeler, Hyson Moyer, Gavyn Stagnolia, Daniel Rieman, Dacy Peters, Aydan Pheral, Javon Browning, Selena Peters, Colin Madden, Blake Furlow, Laurinda Isaacs, Emily Goens, Brooke Neidige, Brenna Bechelli, Cherish Bryant, Abby Voss, Hunter Jenkins, Adam Beeler, Oriana Morales, Derrick Sowers, Caleb Madden.

Top  Class

Suzi Fallis’ first-grade class raised more than $800. They will receive a pizza party and a dodge ball game with Principal Rich Ballard.

Also, third-grader Caleb Madden won the opportunity to be physical education teacher for a half-day.