PCES students kick off ‘Jump Rope for Heart’

    GUILFORD — Students from kindergarten through sixth grade started the spring season with some “spring” in their step March 27, as Piscataquis Community Elementary School kicked off the annual “Jump Rope for Heart” program.
    At the regular Friday school-wide assembly, several sixth-graders demonstrated their expertise on jump roping from the basic to the double-rope, fancy style.

Observer photos/Mike Lange

    JUMPING FOR JOY — PCES sixth-graders (clockwise from above left) Louise Gerickont, Caleb Willis and Sarah Richards demonstrated their jump-roping skills at a school assembly March 27 to kick off the 2015 edition of “Jump Rope for Heart.”

    The program ends with an entire day of jump roping, hula hooping and other health-related activities on Monday, April 13.
    The program encourages cooperative activity and community service by integrating critical thinking skills with physical activity and fun. But there’s a bonus, too.
    This is PCES’s seventh year participating in the national campaign, and the staff and students raised $4,000 for the American Heart Association last year and over $21,000 since the local program started.
    “We focus on the exercise and health benefits,” said Paula Bailey, event coordinator. “But the students enjoy raising money to help others as well. It’s one of the kids’ favorite activities every year because it’s active and purposeful and we always have great success.”
    In addition to healthful activities, students collect donations for the American Heart Association. However, they’re not allowed to solicit door-to-door, so family and friends should contact students they know to donate. Community volunteers and the H.U.G.S. parent group assist with the program at PCES.
    Youngsters can also earn prizes based on their successful campaign
    Jump Rope for Heart is a national program jointly sponsored by the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) and the American Heart Association (AHA).
    For more information, visit www.heart.org/jump.