Program has pupils jumping
Schools participate in annual American Heart Association event
First-grader Andrea Morris didn't exactly count, but by her estimate she had jumped 20 times during the American Heart Association's Jump Rope for Your Heart.
North Columbia first-grader Abbie Drake participated in Jump Rope for Heart program.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
"They should get a good nap this afternoon," said physical education teacher Elizabeth Harley, one of the organizers of the event at North Columbia Elementary School.
The school is one of 37 in the area participating in Jump Rope for Your Heart and Hoops for Heart, major fund raising events for the Heart Association.
"Right now we have $2,000, but we're expecting close to $3,000," Harley said.
Julia Fuller, the regional director of the American Heart Association of Augusta, said last year the project raised $86,000. Most of the schools raise approximately $3,000 each, but Greenbrier Elementary, the top school in Richmond and Columbia County, has raised $14,000 this year, Fuller said.
"We have three main fund raisers we do throughout the year, but this event raises more money than the Heart Walk and Heart Ball," Fuller said. "The goal is to teach children about heart disease and stroke, to get them moving and into an activity that's fun."
The money that is raised by Jump Rope for Your Heart and the middle schools' Hoops for Heart stays in the Augusta area, Fuller said. Much of it goes to the Medical College of Georgia to fund 17 different research projects.
The money also has been used to purchase external defibrillators - which cost about $2,500 apiece - for local fire departments.
"So now when anybody suffers from a heart-related incident they have those there ready to use," Fuller said.
These events will reach approximately 23,000 children either by the actual event or the curriculum that the physical education, science or math teachers provide leading up to the event.
The Columbia County schools participating in Jump Rope for Your Heart or Hoops for Heart are:
Augusta Prep
Lakeside Middle (hoops)
Columbia Middle (hoops)
Evans Middle (hoops)
Greenbrier Middle (hoops)
Bel Air Elementary
Blue Ridge Elementary
Grovetown Elementary
Greenbrier Elementary
Martinez Elementary
North Columbia Elementary
North Harlem Elementary
Riverside Elementary
South Columbia Elementary
Stevens Creek Elementary
Westmont Elementary