Schools
Young Mendham Township Students Demonstrate Big Hearts
Young students at the Mendham Township Elementary School happily engage in a heart-healthy learning program.
Mendham Township, NEW JERSEY (September 30, 2021) – Earlier this week, young students at Mendham Township Elementary School (MTES) eagerly began signing up for the American Heart Association (AHA) Kids Heart Challenge.
The AHA Kids Heart Challenge strives to support young children’s physical and emotional well-being. The goal is to have students learn about keeping healthy while also raising funding money for projects that protect all hearts, especially the hearts of other children. The American Heart Association has created this dedicated program with step-by-step instructions for physical education instructors to use with students. Besides participating in fun, physical exercises, the students also pursue educational modules that teach heart-healthy practices and behaviors. By adopting and reinforcing these behaviors early in life, young students are on track to start making sensible choices related to food and to building regular habits for exercising and managing stress.
Dr. Briana Panetta, MTES - Physical Education Teacher, is leading this initiative at MTES. For the 2021-2022 school year, individual students will select activities that support “being active” and/or “being kind.” Collectively, the school will attempt to reach or exceed a target financial goal, with the funds being donated to the AHA Kids Heart Challenge. Mendham Township Elementary School has been partnering with The American Heart Association for five years. To date, the school has raised over $60,000, and this year’s event has only just started. Dr. Panetta keeps her students pumped up to be heart-healthy throughout the month-long event by engaging students in targeted activities. This year, MTES has set a goal of raising $25,000 life-saving research dollars. To add to the fun, Dr. Panetta has even promised her students she will be “color blasted” if the school can achieve its goal!
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The MTES registration for the program opened on Monday, September 20, 2021, and participation is well underway. The donation closing date is scheduled for Friday, October 29, 2021. This is a great way for students to learn how to take care of their hearts and their overall health and at the same time demonstrate kindness to others.
More details on the school’s goals and progress are available at:
