Armstrong Students Continue Jump Rope Fundraising
Shannock Valley Elementary Fourth Grader Emma Zik (in blue) jump ropes with a group of friends during last week’s gym class for Jump Rope for Heart. Zik solicited a lot of donations from family members the past few weeks and practices her jump roping skills at home.
by Jonathan Weaver
During the past few weeks, Armstrong School District students have been jumping at the chance to raise money for a national non-profit while staying active.
Local elementary school students have raised money during the Jump Rope For Heart campaign – a program begun by the American Heart Association.
The American Heart Association is dedicated to preventing heart disease and stroke.
For instance, at Shannock Valley Elementary in Rural Valley, students in grades K-6 each jump roped in different gym classes.
Shannock Valley Elementary Health and Physical Education Teacher Lori Gamble said this is the second year the nearly-350 students at the school participated in the healthy campaign.
“Last year, we were quite successful – I was surprised,” Gamble said.
Students received fundraising paperwork at the beginning of this month and had until today to collect any donations
Gamble set the school’s fundraising goal at $2,000.
“I set my goal a little bit less this year just because Christmas just passed, but the kids enjoy it,” Gamble said. “Hopefully (last weekend) we collected a little bit more and we can achieve (the goal) (but) if not, they still did a great job and we’re doing a nice thing for heart research.”
While also jump roping, about every four minutes students rotated between other stations – such as hurdles and basketball.
Students also warm up for other activities by jump roping a few times per month.
Fourth Grader Emma Zik likes the challenge of the reverse jump and solicited a lot of donations from family members the past few weeks. She also practices her jump rope skills at home.
10-year-old Kolby Trait, of Rural Valley, has jumped 10 times in a row before and aims to match or exceed that mark again. He planned to spend a lot of time this past weekend soliciting donations.
Camryn Williams also likes to jump robe backwards, but she said her younger sister – second-grader Caitlyn – is a better jumper.
Western Pennsylvania Vice President of Youth Markets Lauren Rieser was very grateful for the local support.
About one in three American children and teens is overweight or obese. As a result, many of them may also struggle with high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes or elevated blood cholesterol levels. Excess weight at a young age has also been linked to earlier death rates in adulthood.
Jump Rope For Heart helps educate students on the importance of healthy living with healthy messages, like avoid and lower the amount of sugar and salt in their foods, drink a lot of water and get a good night’s rest. Also, exercise at least 60 minutes every day.
Armstrong School District | jweaver February 22, 2016
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