Local students were wildly
swinging jump ropes for 90 min
utes trying to raise money for a
worthy cause.
By:David Koch
Teachers, parents and students
from grades first through sixth par
ticipated in the American Heart
Association’s Jump Rope for Heart
in several school gymnasiums last
week.
One local school, Peter Mus
chal Elementary, has held the
event since 1990. The event is or
ganized by school health and phys
ical education teacher Jennie
Walder.
Last year, students at Peter
Muschal raised $19,179 for the
AHA, which was the second high
est amount raised by a school in
the state. This year, Ms. Walder
has raised $19,225, with more
pledges to come.
"We’re trying to raise money
to send to the American Heart As
sociation to find a cure for heart
disease," said Ms. Walder.
Money from the event also will
go into funding education.
"These students have worked
very hard for this program," said
Ms. Walder.
Two grades were brought into
the school gym at a time to jump
rope for an hour and a half. Stu
dents were broken into groups of
four or five, so they wouldn’t have
to jump rope continuously.
When asked why they’re par
ticipating, most students said be
cause it’s fun. Many kids became
so good that two or three kids
would jump using the same rope.
One group of four jumped on the
same rope successfully seven
times.
"They do jump rope with this
age group, because it’s something
that they like to do and are able to
do," said Ms. Walder.
For older students, the Ameri
can Heart Association puts togeth
er a basketball event called Hoops
for Heart.
To add to the event at the
school, local DJ Greg D’Angelo
played the latest dance tunes for
the kids.
The music is added so the kids
"don’t look at it strictly as a work
out, so they can have fun," said
Greg.
Greg is now a senior at the
Hun School in Princeton, but he
was once a student at Peter Mus
chal participating in Jump Rope
for Heart. He now donates his time
adding music to the event for free.
But the serious cause of the
event is not lost on the kids.
"These children don’t hesitate to
help another human being," said
school Vice Principal Inetta Em
ery. Out of 700 students in the Pet
er Muschal School, 450 students
were participating in Jump Rope
for Heart.
Out of 220 fifth- and sixth-
graders in the school, 173 were
participating in last week’s event.
The students also raise money for
other causes such as leukemia.
The Clara Barton Elementary
School in Bordentown City held its
annual Jump Rope for Heart event
on March 8. The school has partic
ipated in the event for the past 12
years.
This year, the Clara Barton stu
dents raised $7,343, almost $1,000
more than last year. The top fund-
raisers were fifth grader Marybeth
Grove and third grader Nicole
Chiszar. Each raised $200.
The top fund-raising team was
the third-grade team, "The Bunny
Jumpers," who collected a total of
$440. Team members were Aman
da Moyer, Amiya Quinn-Jimerson,
Abbie Shain, Samantha Shain, Jas
preet Singh and Angela Gadecki.
This is the 23rd year for the
American Heart Association Jump
Rope for Heart. Out of 7,000
schools in New Jersey, New York,
and Connecticut, it is estimated
about 4,000 participate in the event
according to administrative assist
ant for the American Heart Associ
ation, Cheryl Belomizi.
Last year alone, New Jersey
students raised more than $1 mil
lion through Jump Rope for Heart.