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Hazelwood schools raise nearly $40,000 for American Heart Association
Hazelwood School District students and staff members used basketballs and jump ropes to raise almost $40,000 for the American Heart Association (AHA) during Jump Rope for Heart and Hoops for Heart competitions.
In Jump Rope for Heart, students spend time in physical education classes learning about different jump rope tricks and how jumping rope helps cardiovascular health. Hoops for Heart allows students to play basketball, either full-court games or by performing trick shots.
HSD schools that participated in Hoops for Heart are – Barrington Elementary, Hazelwood Central Middle, Hazelwood East Middle, Hazelwood North Middle, Hazelwood Northwest Middle, Hazelwood Southeast Middle, Hazelwood West Middle, Jamestown Elementary, Jana Elementary, Keeven Elementary, Lawson Elementary and Twillman Elementary.
HSD schools that participated in Jump Rope for Heart are – Armstrong Elementary, Arrowpoint Elementary, Brown Elementary, Cold Water Elementary, Garrett Elementary, Grannemann Elementary, Jamestown Elementary Jury Elementary, Keeven Elementary, Larimore Elementary, Lawson Elementary, Lusher Elementary, McCurdy Elementary, McNair Elementary, Russell Elementary, Townsend Elementary, Walker Elementary
Various schools highlight student contributions and special contests as part of the fundraisers.
Using Jump Rope for Heart, McNair Elementary raised $5,764. “A definite bright spot for us was our teachers, who donated $448, an increase of a few hundred dollars. The students love showing off their jumps for the parents of McNair,” said physical education teacher Rob Iezzi said. “It’s nice to see the parents get in there and jump as well.” McNair finished third in the metropolitan area and 11th in Missouri with $6,200 last year and as a school, it has collected about $80,000 over the years, said Iezzi.
Arrowpoint Elementary fifth-grade student Kellie Maddox donated $250. At Hazelwood West Middle, students paid $2 to play basketball during their academic excellence periods and staff members made donations. Two seventh-grade students, Jaylen Bledsoe and Deronne Carson, raised more than $300, the most of any students in the school, so they received opportunities to throw pies at the favorite teachers. Bledsoe selected social studies teacher Christopher Clark and Carson picked science teacher Christopher Link.
At Jana Elementary, 38 fourth- and fifth-grade girls and boys participated in several basketball competitions, said physical education teacher Kevin Ebers. They had a free-throw shooting competition, a lay-up competition, a hot shot competition and a knockout championship. Each grade level and gender competed against one another and the winners received certificates. All participants received prizes donated from various companies.
“There were two special guests at the event, Assistant Superintendents Dr. Steve Sandbothe and Dr. Grayling Tobias,” Ebers said. “They competed in a 30-second lay-up contest and they each made 20 lay-ups, so it went to a sudden death free-throw shooting competition to break the tie. It was very exciting and they made the event even more fun.”
Jury Elementary physical education teachers sponsored a Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser. Families, students and staff were very generous and understood the power of giving. Top honors went to Mr. Ryno’s fourth-grade class, which donated $561 – this is the fourth year in a row that his class earned the most donations. Miss Pendino’s kindergarten class gave $300. These two classes celebrated with a field trip to the SkyZone Recreational Center along with top-earning students, third-graders Xaria Bryant and Octavia Burrow, fourth-grader Kayla Cobbs, fifth-graders Tyra Smart and Gabbreill Cowan, first-grader Brianna Harris and kindergartener Jairus Thomas.
About 70 Larimore Elementary students and 27 Larimore staff members collected money for Jump Rope for Heart, said Brian Lucido, one of the school’s physical education teachers. The top fundraiser was first-grade student Jordan Long, who raised $200 by himself.
“A girlfriend’s brother passed away from heart disease recently; he was 52,” said Lynn Long, Jordan’s mother. “I sent a message out to all of my friends and family that Jordan was collecting money for Jump Rope for Heart and my friend sent back $100. I had to call her to ask her if that was a typo, did she include an extra zero by mistake. She said because of what happened to her brother, she sent $100. Other family members contributed the rest of the money.”
Larimore students participated in a number of activities such as short ropes, long ropes, double-dutch, a ropes course and hula hoops while listening to music. Lusher Elementary physical education teacher Nick Scott challenged his students that whoever raised the most money would get to shave his head. First-grader Sydney Eberle raised $200, but she was too shy to cut his hair. The task fell to the second and third place winners, kindergarten student John Hartwell and his sister, second-grader Jenna Hartwell, who raised $95 each.
Townsend Elementary third- through fifth-grade students worked on challenging skills, such as the double-under, criss-cross, rump jump, mad dog, jogger and the famous “one minute challenge” — how many jumps could students do in one minute? Pre-K through second-graders worked on basic jump rope skills beginning with rope turning and jumping techniques. As students progressed, staff challenged them with a variety of jump-roping techniques. Forty-eight students contributed. The top fundraisers are fourth-grader Shaun Patterson, first-grader Prince Coffer, fifth-grader Kendarius Floyd, fourth-grader Keara Blanton and kindergartener Nazzan Zantello.
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