By Nance Ebert, Contributing Writer
Northborough – The Lincoln Street School hosted its sixth annual Jump Rope for Heart event March 13 to help raise money for the American Heart Association. The students raised an impressive $4,076? for the AHA.
There were 91 students participating in this year's event, which is a national fundraising program sponsored by the AHA and the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.
“Lincoln Street does a terrific job of getting their students involved in this program getting them up and moving for as long as they can,” said Kristin Styles, youth market director at the AHA. “Every kid should have a healthy, happy heart.”
This event marks the culmination of a three-week jump rope unit in the school's physical education classes. During those classes, the children were introduced to various styles of jumping rope, like Chinese jump rope, the jump band, which is used to represent a Filipino dance, and the “minute club” which encourages endurance.
“To me, this is an awesome, fun, educational way to raise awareness of heart disease,” physical education teacher Patricia Rollins said.
“For several weeks ahead of our Jump Rope for Heart event, the students get introduced to different styles of jumping and learn about its origin. The kids feel very positive about participating in such a worthy cause.”
According to Styles, this year marks Jump Rope for Heart's 35th anniversary.
“We went with a Duck Life Savers theme as an incentive to get the kids online and signed up. They received different collectible rubber ducks for their amount raised,” she said.
The schools also benefit from participating by earning points for physical education equipment.
(Photos/Nance Ebert)
