get celebrities! - shape america · pdf filesome have even donated toward our school’s...

Joint Projects Office • SHAPE America1900 Association Drive • Reston, VA [email protected] • 1-800-213-7193

Fall 2015

Vol 16 • No 1

Check with sports teams in your immediate area • There is a minor league baseball team in our city (which I happen to work for) and they have

hooked us up in the past by sending both players and their mascot.

• The Baltimore Ravens are only an hour away from us... They said they were going to bill us for their mascot’s appearance, but never did (our PTO was willing to foot the bill).

• There is also a minor league hockey team, as well as a professional soccer team nearby that have sent players to our school.

Contact local non-sport celebrities• I have asked local community members to attend: news anchors, newspaper reporters,

senators and congressmen. Some have even donated toward our school’s total budget.

• Next year, I am inviting Governor Wolf, a York, PA native.

• Last year, every student in our school wrote a persuasive letter to the First Lady, Michelle Obama, inviting her to attend our Jump Rope For Heart event (integration with our language arts curriculum). More than 650 neon orange envelopes flooded the White House last winter (she was not able to come, but sent us a letter wishing us luck at our event). We later shared messages and pictures with Michelle Obama and the Let’s Move campaign through Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #Jump4SSE.

Invite high school athletes/mascots• Many of our high school students participated in previous events with us, and our younger

kids really look up to them because they see them at the high school games.

Get celebrities!How to get celebrities to attend your next Jump Rope For Heart or Hoops For Heart Event

By Brian Wisler, York, PA, 2015 SHAPE America JRFH/HFH grantee

Write for us!Bring national attention to your school

by contributing to The Pulse! Highlight

the achievements of your school’s

Jump Rope For Heart or Hoops For

Heart event in the Best Practices

Section, tell us what’s happening

locally in the State Spotlight, or submit

a lesson plan or a heartwarming

feature article. Email articles to:

[email protected]

Contribute today!

Inside this issue:1. Get celebrities!

3. New lesson ideas

4. Welcome Meredith May

5. Illinois visit highlights

6. SHAPE America grant deadline

7. March Madness

8. Q&A

9. New beginnings

10. Creating the next generation of life savers

11. Strategies

Continued >

Invite college athletes/mascots• York College debuted their mascot last year at our Jump Rope For Heart event, which also

served as good PR for the university.

Keep your ears open in your school• A teacher I replaced in 1990 was a professional football player and Woody Bennett’s coach

in high school (former running back for the Miami Dolphins). He was our celeb at my first Jump event.

• One of my former student’s mom was a former Olympic archer. She was able to attend.

• A student teacher of mine was a member of Penn State’s football team and attended.

• A former student was the starting tight end for Penn State and he had participated in a JRFH event when he attended our school.

• Another former student went on to play professional arena football and visited us.

• One of our recess aides knew a member of the Chicago Bears who also put in an appearance for us.

• One year, our head boys’ soccer coach, who plays professional indoor soccer, attended.

• The Phillie Phanatic helped us wrap up our Jump event at an all-school assembly last year. He is the uncle of one of my students.

We usually are not able to provide autographs to all students, but sometimes get a dozen or so autographed photos that we then use as bonus prizes for the students. Our celebs just wander from team to team, smiling, greeting, shaking hands and usually jumping with the kids as well.

The main thing is to keep your eyes open, do not be afraid to take a chance, and invite someone to your event. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Don’t be afraid to take a chance.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

2 • SHAPE America • The Pulse • Fall 2015

New lesson ideas:Hoops For Heart!

By Laurie Nolan, 2015 Outstanding Coordinator Grant winner, Glenmont Elementary, Delmar, NY

Designing fun, educational lessons for Hoops For Heart activities is always a creative experience. At Glenmont Elementary school, our students participate in a week-long series of events to celebrate learning about their hearts and living a healthy life.

While our event format has evolved over the past 17 years of participation (we started out holding it after school and in the evening, and now it has evolved into an in-school function during physical education classes), the focus on teaching even the youngest students the basics of heart health has remained a constant.

Listed here are some of the brief (5-10 minutes each) small-group stations we have used to teach key “heart” concepts to elementary students. They can be modified to fit different grades, skill levels and abilities. Students have already been introduced to the function and importance of the heart, and understand why a heart rate will increase/decrease.

Save Our Hearts

Students must work together to lift and transfer a large earth ball (their “heart”), while maneuvering on scooters. Each child wears a pinny that is labeled with a different heart-healthy component: one child’s pinny says “fruit,” one may say “vegetables,” while still others may say “exercise,” “sleep,” “stay calm,” etc. The students, while sitting on their scooters, must form a circle around the earth ball, or other large ball, to lift it, and then safely carry it to the endpoint, which is a large, empty storage container 15-20 yards away or a hula hoop set on the floor. Remind students that everyone must work together to keep their heart healthy, and that all components are important.

Continued >


The more active a student is, the more

likely they are to finish their puzzle, and

therefore, take better care of their heart.


Variation: with older students, I give them a harder challenge. They make a circle around a basketball, put one hand behind their back, and use their other hand to lift the ball in the air together. Then, they travel to a nearby basketball hoop (the ones in my gym can be lowered to 7 feet) and attempt to make a basket.

Build a Heart

Cones are set out on the gym/cafeteria floor to make a “racetrack.” Inside the track, each student has a “heart puzzle,” which is simply a piece of poster board in the shape of a heart, cut into small pieces. Students earn a piece of their puzzle by jogging or walking a lap around the track. The more active a student is, the more likely they are to finish their puzzle, and therefore, take better care of their heart.

Variation for older students: give each child a basketball to dribble while jogging around the track.

Clogged ArteriesEssentially, this is “monkey in the middle.” Review what an artery is before you start, and why it is important to your body. Then, put students in groups of 3. You can use basketballs, gator skins or playground balls for this activity. Two of the students in the group are the passers and stand about 15-20 feet apart. The third person is the “clogged artery” and stands in between the passers. He/she dons a pinny or old, oversized T-shirt that has pictures of “unhealthy” things on it: smoking, junk foods, sugary drinks, salt, couch potatoes (I simply printed pictures from my computer and taped them on a pinny. This is not an absolute necessity, but the visuals have an impact on the students and add to the fun). The passers are trying to stay healthy by passing the ball back and forth, while avoiding the clogged artery. The clogged artery, meanwhile, is trying to cause problems by deflecting or stealing the ball. Switch positions every few throws, or when the person in the middle steals the ball.

Variation for younger students: passers can roll a gatorskin to each other.

This concept can also be taught through a large-group tag game, without any balls…the tagger is the “clogged artery.” When a person is tagged, he/she goes to a designated spot to perform a set number of exercises in order to re-enter the game.

Slam Dunk Heart DiseaseStudents are on scooters. A clean, empty plastic trash bin (my school has 30-gallon containers, so that is what we use) or other receptacle that can hold balls, is set approximately 20 feet away. One at a time, students take a small gatorskin (or tennis ball, or any other ball small enough to grip in one hand), ride their scooter to the bin, and slam dunk it in. The students can get fancy on their way to the bin by going backwards on their scooter, spinning, going through the legs or around the back with the ball, etc. They return to the ball pile and take another one for their next trip.

Variation: this can be done without scooters by having the students crab walk with the balls under their chin, bunny hop with a ball between their legs, or travel with a partner with the ball between their backs, etc.

These are just a few of the activities we use during Hoops For Heart. The students enjoy using their imagination at these stations, and the key concepts that we want them to learn are reinforced through their participation. I am sure the activities will continue to evolve as the students build on their knowledge!

SHAPE America welcomes

Meredith MayJoint Projects Manager

Meredith May is a Certified Health Education

Specialist (CHES) with a B.S. in Community

Health, concentration in Nutrition. Shortly

after obtaining her bachelor’s degree,

in 2013, she began working with the

American Heart Association. There, she

worked as the Health Strategies Program

Coordinator for almost two years and

implemented and advanced the mission

of the AHA in the community by executing

social media campaigns and community

events, and creating strategic partnerships

with volunteers and organizations. These

partnerships were instrumental in the

execution of numerous sponsor activation

activities for health initiatives and

major fundraising events for companies

including: Medtronic, HP, Lockheed Martin,

Washington Hospital Center and Kaiser

Permanente. The social media campaigns

used to promote these initiatives and events

resulted in a huge expansion of the AHA’s

local online visibility, reaching upwards of 2

million people.

In her spare time, Meredith loves to work

out and spend time with friends, family, and

her black Lab/Dalmatian mix, Finn. She also

coaches JV high school softball and attends

Marymount University. At Marymount she

is pursuing her master’s degree in Health

Education and Promotion, which she will

finish in May of 2016. Meredith has taken

a hiatus from classes this fall to plan her

December wedding to her fiancé, Evan.


I had the privilege of visiting Jump and Hoops For Heart events at four schools this past year. Each of the schools had creative and unique ideas for their events. The dedication and hard work of the coordinators have made their events outstanding. The positive impact that has been made will be long lasting for the students, school and community. The students have a better understanding of what a healthy lifestyle is and why they need to maintain it. Thank you to all of the coordinators, students, schools, parents and community for making such a difference. Your hard work is greatly appreciated.

Chelsea Intermediate School, Frankfort, Illinois

Chelsea School’s third through fifth graders in Frankfort have been participating in the Jump Rope For Heart for the past 19 years. Kay Elm, Randy Klosowski and Matt Dykema have worked hard to create a successful event. The staff, administration, parents and the community are extremely supportive of their efforts. This past year 100 percent of the staff purchased special T-shirts in support of the event.

The students learn about the event by watching the provided videos and talking about being a part of the fundraiser. Personal stories are shared by the students about their family members who have been affected by heart disease. Students are urged by the teachers to make their own web site about the event.

The students participate in several incentive programs, such as receiving a torch with their name on it for turning in $50.00. This represents one life being saved by people knowing CPR. Students receive an “It’s Your Life” wrist band for reaching the torch level. Duck-pond posters display the students’ grade level who have earned a duck. The grade levels compete to see who can get the most ducks in their pond.

During the month prior to the event the students are taught jump rope and dance skills. They are also asked to make a Jump Rope For Heart poster which is displayed in the gym during the event. These posters are saved to use for the next year’s event. The school’s TV monitors display students promoting healthy lifestyles during the month leading up to the Jump Rope For Heart event.

The parents are extremely supportive of their children by volunteering to help out with the event. Each grade level has its own set of volunteers during the two-day event. They help with student supervision, timing for the event and handing out stickers. One parent has volunteered for several years to count the donations and get the prize order ready for the school.

During the event students organize themselves into teams and take turns jumping rope. Each time a student completes a jumping session they are given a sticker. There are rope jumping contests with the winning student receiving a prize. The walls of the gym are covered with posters, torches and Jump Rope For Heart participation certificates and “In Honor of” hearts. The total donations that have been handed in are displayed on a large board in the gym. Jump Rope For Heart plaques from the American Heart Association are also displayed on the wall at the entrance of the gym, and the amount that was raised is displayed on the plaque.

During the past several years the amount of money raised by the students and staff of Chelsea has increased. The school is one of the top schools in the nation for the total raised. This past year the school’s total was $62,323.00. This would not be possible if it weren’t for the hard work, support and dedication of the Chelsea staff.

Jump and Hoops For Heartvisit highlights:

By Mary Kennedy, Illinois JRFH/HFH State Coordinator

Chelsea and St. Barnabas Schools

Continued >


SHAPE America grant deadline is approaching!If you held a Jump Rope For Heart or Hoops

For Heart event last year, apply for a SHAPE

America grant by December 1! Grantees

will receive:

• $1,300 professional development

stipend to attend the 2016 SHAPE

America National Convention & Expo

in Minneapolis, MN from April 5-9,

2016. The stipend may be used toward

convention registration, travel, lodging

and/or per diem.

• One-year SHAPE America membership

(if you are not a current SHAPE America

member) and (1) copy of the 2014

National Standards & Grade-Level

Outcomes for K-12 Physical Education.

• $1,200 US Games gift certificate

redeemable for equipment to enhance

your school's physical education

program. The gift voucher will be

presented at the 2016 SHAPE America

National Convention & Expo in

Minneapolis, MN.

• Invitations to special events where you

will meet physical education and JRFH/

HFH leaders from around the country.

• Opportunity to share what makes your

program special by contributing to The

Pulse, JRFH/HFH’s national newsletter.

For more information and to download the

application, visit:

www.shapeamerica.org/jump

St. Barnabas School, Chicago, Illinois

Maureen Perazzolo’s students at St. Barnabas School enjoyed jumping with their classmates during their Jump Rope For Heart event. The 150 students wearing red T-shirts ranged from first through sixth grade.

In order for the students to participate in the event they were required to turn in at least $1.00. Each grade level jumped rope as a group around the room with their names displayed on the gym wall. Volunteer parents helped with supervision, handing out materials and turning long ropes for the students. During the event Maureen led the students in dance breaks. Each child was urged to print the name of the person in honor of whom they were jumping.

During the past year a former student from St. Barnabas had passed away from problems stemming from heart disease. Her name was displayed with a big heart on the gym wall. The students from each grade level displayed their honor hearts around hers. The current students had learned how heart disease affects people of all ages, which made the reason for participating in the event more relevant to them.

In the month leading up to the event the students were taught about the importance of the AED units and how they save lives. They were also taught about the importance of living a healthy

lifestyle and being active. Jump rope skills were taught to the students prior to the event.

This was Maureen’s 23rd year organizing a Jump Rope For Heart event. Throughout the years, the students from St. Barnabas have benefited from participating in the program in the form of jump rope skills and educational benefits. This past year, St. Barnabas students donated $10,250.00. This was the most that the school has ever raised, thanks to the hard work of the staff and parents.

March Madness!

By Anne McCoy, Virginia HFH State Coordinator, Oakland Elementary

Colleges across the United States celebrate March Madness each year with a firestorm of basketball talent displayed for all to see. The spectators are stoked, as well as the players and coaches. At Oakland Elementary we have found a way to bring that intensity and excitement to an elementary school gym while incorporating the American Heart Association’s Hoops For Heart. The best part of all… an administrator we had a few years back created the original March Madness Tournament for our school. Thanks Dr. Rice!

Students in 5th grade who maintain a “C” or higher in all subjects and show good citizenship qualities for the 3rd marking period, receive an invitation to participate in March Madness as a player, cheerleader or score keeper. Eligible participants receive quality instruction from varsity basketball players from our feeder high school, King’s Fork, after school for one week. Game day is always the day before we release for spring break. Student families come out to support in droves. I dare you to try to find a parking spot on game day!

So… how is Hoops For Heart included?

A good March Madness Basketball Tournament is super fun with the addition of a halftime show. The K-5 students are given a goal to achieve for their donations. Students in PreK-5 who meet that goal are invited to participate in the halftime show during the 5th-grade March Madness Tournament. What is involved in the halftime show? A Duck Race! The PreK-5 participants are grouped by age and participate in silly games with their ducks. For example, a Duck Pull where students place their duck on a scooter and must pull their duck around obstacles. Duck Races continue all day until each grade level’s participants have had a chance to participate.


Continued >


Did you know that staff members can rock it out during March Madness too? Staff members can join and be a part of the staff basketball or cheer team. The winning 5th-grade basketball team from the morning tournament plays against the staff team in the afternoon. Included is a cheer-off between staff and student cheerleaders, and more Duck Races!

Speaking of staff…

Did you know that staff members get fired up and support students throughout the school by sponsoring children for the Duck Races? Staff members will donate to AHA in support of one or more students so they can participate in the Duck Races.

With Jeffco Public Schools Superintendent Dan McMinimee

With districts often limiting the number of fundraising projects schools can participate in each year, how can you convince school leaders to select JRFH/HFH as the fundraiser of choice? As a former JRFH coordinator and physical educator, Superintendent Dan McMinimee with Jeffco Public Schools in Colorado, offers some perspective on how to garner support for these educational fund-development programs that directly support our profession.

Question: How does your school district review fundraising requests?Answer: Gaining support becomes more difficult in a district of 86,000 students, where there are multiple layers of staff between schools and the superintendent. In our case, we are setting up a system of support from the district office leading to schools, and have placed an emphasis on more site-based decision making within a framework of the outcomes we all want for our students as they exit the system. We are also using this opportunity to take a closer look at all that would make a school successful; not just the scores on statewide assessments, but multiple measures of success.

Question: Why should principals and superintendents support JRFH/HFH?Answer: I am supportive of JRFH because it is a simple and concrete way for students to support their community and to also build skills that are transferrable. It is an easy way for students to develop their motor skills, work on fitness and healthy activities, and develop their confidence as they achieve goals.

Read the full Q&A by visiting http://www.shapeamerica.org/jump/about/schoolbenefits.cfm

Q&A

“ Hoops For Heart has been

an excellent addition to

Oakland Elementary and

we look forward to more

exciting tournaments in the

future!”


New beginningsBy Tessa Pehanick, VAHPERD Joints Projects Coordinator

As the newest member of our physical education team, I suggested that we host an event for the American Heart Association. My new school had previously held successful events, but after a significant redistricting process the thought of hosting became

complicated. With support from our new administrative team, we decided to give it our best shot.

My best events have coincided with Valentine’s Day, and a dress-up day related to “heart health, love and celebrating our health” helps to set the theme for the day. Promoting a “Dress in Red” day supports the concept of unity within the school.

I advertise spirit awards for both teachers and students on that day, and we budget for prizes or receive donations from local businesses. During our events we look out for the students who have put a lot of effort into their attire! The

repetition and consistency of hosting events year after year helps to improve the “spirit” component of my events.

Starting anew, we collaborated to hold our event on one day for all grade levels and extended the PE class length to 45 minutes, providing a unique experience for our students. We had several parent volunteers during every

session to turn ropes and take photos.

Five years ago, this school raised $6,500, so our challenge was to set a realistic goal for fundraising. Since we added so many new students we raised the goal amount to $10,000. Teachers and parents raised eyebrows

at this amount, until we announced to students that both of our administrators agreed to be taped to the wall if we reached our goal!

Changing up the routine, starting a new Jump Rope For Heart tradition, and working during class time to perfect our jump skills led to a record-setting $18,606 total donation! We celebrated with

gusto on the day our thank-you gifts arrived! Every student contributed to the “Duck Tape” event. We had TV coverage, and lots of happy students. Feel free to contact me, or your state Jump or

Hoops coordinator for ideas and strategies. Thanks a million for all you do!

In the United States, every hour 38 people will have a cardiac arrest outside of the hospital. However, only 10 percent of these victims will survive. Seventy percent of the time, cardiac arrests will occur in the home. Lifesaving CPR performed by a bystander can double or even triple a person’s chance of surviving a cardiac arrest. The life you save by performing CPR is most likely to be your own family or friend!

Students play an integral part in increasing survival from cardiac arrest. Twenty-four states now require all students to be trained in CPR, with hands-on practice on a manikin, before graduating from high school. That means approximately 1.2 million students (nearly 40 percent of the U.S. student population) will be trained in CPR each year! The American Heart Association (AHA) is actively involved in helping to create the next generations of lifesavers who will increase the chance that a cardiac arrest victim will receive the help he or she needs until paramedics arrive.

In the first year of the AHA-Ross CPR in Schools Program, we have trained more than 330,000 middle school students in life-saving CPR. Over the next three years, more than 1,000,000 students in 33 states will learn CPR.

We are excited to announce our newest grant program for high schools! Because of the generous donation from the Ross Stores Foundation, 250 high schools across the country will receive 2 FREE CPR in Schools Training Kits™ in the 2015-2016 school year. This all-in-one kit contains 10 manikins and materials for school teachers or administrators to train hundreds of students, as well as online resources to make implementation easy. Students learn the core skills of CPR in under 30 minutes, and it contains everything needed to learn CPR, AED skills and choking relief in school classroom settings. The easy-to-use kit utilizes the AHA’s latest science guidelines and it is portable, allowing for easy storage. It was developed for educators, school

nurses or even student leaders to train groups of 10-20 students at once in a school setting.

If you’d like to learn more about getting your school involved, visit www.heart.org/rosscprschoolgrant. Hurry! The deadline for grant applications is September 30th, 2015.


Here are the 24 states that have passed laws requiringCPR as a high school graduation requirement.

Source: American Heart Association

Creating the next generation of lifesavers

Jump Rope For Heart and Hoops For Heart had another record breaking year in FY14-15, and we can’t wait to see what FY15-16 holds! We are almost “pawsitive” it will be the best year yet! After two years of Life Saving Ducks, we are excited to announce our Life Saving Puppies!

We surveyed students from across the country, and hands down they chose puppies over ducks! In fact, 85% of students preferred puppies. We are so excited to have our Life Saving Puppies help teach students about what it means to be heart healthy. Each puppy is aligned with one of our important health messages for students: living tobacco free, reducing sugary beverages, increasing exercise, reducing sodium, and increasing fruits and vegetables. The fun adoption certificates, posters, and online badges make it enjoyable to learn to be heart healthy!

JRFH and HFH announce Life Saving Puppies


Another addition this year is our plush puppy at the $150 gift level. Milo the Mission Dog is sure to be a hit with students!We have made numerous changes over the past few years to make Jump Rope For Heart and Hoops For Heart events as easy and fun to coordinate as possible. First, we introduced our new online ordering form that makes tallying student donations easy. Then, we made additional strides to improve the process of distributing Thank You Gifts with a new procedure. So, stay tuned for further details!

If you are a volunteer who has held an event before, thank you from the bottom of our heart! If you haven’t participated before, or it’s been a few years, give it a try. With your support we are going to move heart disease to #2! Together, we can GET 1 DONE!

Join Our Pack! Collect all 6!

With a $5 donation, students receive Super Pup and a lanyard(see envelope for the coupon to tear off and send to school with your child to receive this pup).

First Donation

With their first online donation, students receive Ninja Star.

Online With $85 in online donations, students receive Martia N. Mutley.

Online When students raise $20, they will receive Capt’n Bark

$20 When students raise $35, they will receive Dr Bow Wow

$35 When students raise $100, they will receive Soccer Pup

$100

Get your puppies today and show your support for the American Heart Association and living heart healthy!

Your teacher has these puppies now!


Jump ropefeatured in latest issue of

Strategies!Jump rope is a popular activity within

physical education curricula today. It

develops hand-eye-foot coordination and

promotes physical fitness, especially

cardiorespiratory endurance, through an

active lifestyle. “Jump Rope: "Tricks" of

the Trade,” written by Kristin Heumann

and Steven Murray and featured in the

September/October issue of Strategies,

discusses various tricks including step-

by-step progressions and verbal cues for

specific lessons.

Strategies: A Journal for Physical and Sport

Educators, is a bimonthly journal offered by

SHAPE America that addresses the everyday

needs of physical and sport educators.

SHAPE America members can select

Strategies as a benefit of membership in the

association. Join or renew your membership

today to start receiving your copy.

Set the Date! Have you set the date for this year’s Jump Rope For Heart or Hoops For Heart event? Have you set the date for

this year’s Jump Rope For Heart or Hoops For

Heart event? Now is a great time to talk with principals,

fellow teachers and parents about finding time

on the 2015-16 school calendar for a fall, winter

or spring event and also contact your American

Heart Association Youth Market Director to

schedule a quick meeting to sign your school up

and learn about the fun and exciting program

offerings available next year!

Email [email protected] to get started.

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