Skipping students aid 2 causes with 1 event
OAKLANDTWP — Students at Oakland Elementary Schooljumped at the chance Monday to give more money to the school they adopted after Hurricane Katrina.
Sandy Augustine, gym teacher, organized a Jump Rope for Heart event sponsored by the American Heart Association at the school and added a twist, giving the prizes otherwise earned and other spare change to the Saucier Elementary School, part of the Harrison County School District in southern Mississippi.
The Butler School District adopted the devastated school and Emily Brittain, Oakland Township and Meridian elementary schools, along with the junior high school, collected materials to donate to the Mississippi students.
In December, two teachers drove to the school to deliver the supplies. Since then, elementary schools in Butler held numerous fundraising events to benefit Saucier, including two weeks of Jump Rope for Heart activities.
This is the first year Oakland participated in the national program. Mars Elementary began participating in the program several years ago and has even developed a jump rope team. The Mars Stars visited Oakland to demonstrate tricks and give lessons March 6. After that assembly, students started practicing jumping rope at recess, Augustine said.
Augustine modified her classes so the lessons taught about having a healthy heart and a healthy lifestyle.
"I decided to start this here because I thought it was a way to get kids more active,"she said.
Monday and Wednesday, Augustine scheduled kindergarten to sixth grade classes in the gym so at least one student was jumping rope from 9:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.
Teachers collected money from students like sixth grader Natalie Francese to donate to the Heart Association.
Natalie has practiced at recess and now knows how to "skip it" like a pro. She said she was glad to spend gym class Monday going through seven stations jumping or doing other cardio activities.
At station five, students were asked to jump as many times as they could without stopping. Natalie kept going for 274 swings of the purple rope.
At other stations, Dillon Meeder, Ashlie Thoma and Paige White warmed up their jumping legs with individual jump ropes, occasionally throwing in a special double jump and other tricks.
Paige, who is on the basketball team, said jumping rope keeps her heart in shape so she can run up and down the court.
At the partner jumping station, the quartet of Cassie Koerner, Kelsie Patten, Chris Pettit and Mike McPherson tried showing off their newly acquired skills. Cassie and Kelsie jumped together with a big rope while two parent volunteers twirled. They turned and touched the ground while singing a chant.
Mike decided he would do a push-up in the sphere created by the swinging rope. He failed to make it safely when he started from a standing position, but when he started in a push-up position, he was able to jump twice.
Eventually, everyone made it to the station of parent volunteer Meghan Lucas, who instructed the students on how to use stethoscopes to find and calculate their heart rate.
When classtime is over, most sixth graders lined up to leave, but Augustine kept Mike, Cassie, Kelsie and Chris jumping until the fifth grade students arrived so the jumping didn't stop as part of the program.
The Heart Association gives physical education equipment prizes to the school, which Augustine said will be donated to Saucier. In her note to parents, Augustine noted the school held many fundraisers, so anything is appreciated.
Assistant Superintendent Michael Strutt said more than $50,000 has been donated to charities so far this year. Strutt said that is above the average for the district with more than two months of school left.
