Manawa Elementary and Middle School students proved that they have true heart by participating in Jump Rope and Hoops for Heart.
Though the actual events took place on the morning of March 27, students had been collecting donations for the American Heart Association for weeks prior to this event. As the tagline for Jump Rope and Hoops for Heart says, “It takes heart to be a hero,” and the kids in Manawa strived to embody this belief.
Manawa students collected an amazing $4,671.05, with 130 different students, from kindergarten to 8th grade, contributing donations.
Incentives were given to the students to encourage them to ask family and friends for donations. Not only does the American Heart Association give out thank-you gifts equivalent to the amount of money raised by individuals, but Subway, a national sponsor of Jump Rope and Hoops for Heart, also donated some prizes.
The American Heart Association thank-you gifts, which vary from jump ropes, to t-shirts to fun rubber duckies, will be distributed to students who earned them as soon as they arrive in the mail. And, the students who earned Subway prizes, will be receiving them soon too.
The students from each building (Manawa Elementary and Little Wolf Junior/Senior High School) who raised the most money will receive gift certificates to Subway. At the elementary level, this award will go to Lane Kreklow and to Ryan Schuelke at LWJSHS.
Also, the grade level or class from each building who brought in the largest amount of donations will get a Subway party. At the elementary school, the 2nd grade won this honor, raising a total of $808.30. At the junior/senior high, the 8C class will get the party for raising $195.
Jump Rope for Heart and Hoops for Heart are ultimately a fundraiser for the American Heart Association, but they are also an opportunity for children to learn the importance of heart health and being physically active.
On the day of the actual event, the K-6 students participated in Jump Rope for Heart. Each grade level came to the gym for 30 minutes and rotated through six different jumping focused stations. Some of the stations included short rope jumping, long rope jumping, high jumping over a jump rope, pogo sticks and hoppity hops.
At the junior high level, where the students participated in Hoops for Heart, they had a variety of basketball and fitness related challenges.
The winners of the different basketball challenges were: Free Throw Contest – Ryan Pynenberg; Hot Spot Shoot-out – Seth Forbes; Knock-out Winner – Skye Ferg; Lightening – Dakota Lane; Spider Ball – Ryan Schuelke; and Dribble Relay Race – Seth Forbes, Nathan Reynolds, Bo Koehn, Jeven Sachtjen, Skylar Hutchings, Avery Grimm, Ethan Wiesner, Jared Buschke, Austin Kitowski and Zach Kriesel.
The fitness contest winners included: Most Pull-ups – Zach Johnson with 21; Fastest Time in One Mile Bike – Zach Johnson with a time of 4:10; and Longest Person to Hold a Plank – Cody Luedke.
Overall the day was a huge success. Students had the opportunity to be active, learned about heart health, and helped raise money to help other kids and adults who have heart disease.
The day couldn’t have run so smoothly without the assistance of a number of high school students who helped out during the event day. Mrs. Ziemer, Mrs. Krause and Mr. Murphy would like to express appreciation to those students and to Mrs. Cordes, who organized the high school help.
Special appreciation also goes to Subway, for sponsoring the event, and to all friends and family of Manawa students who donated to the cause.