South Mountain Kids Show They Got Heart

By Aaron Saunders, a South Mountain After-School Scholar

Do you like to jump rope? Trying hopping for more than two hours. That’s what students at South Mountain Elementary School did to find out who can jump the longest. At the same time, they raised money for kids with heart disease.

“To me, it felt I had a chance to show people what it meant like to be a heart hero,” said Chibueze who jumped rope for an amazing 2 hours and 36 minutes. “We need to help other children who have bad hearts. I felt I had to do something before it was too late.”

Through the American Heart Association’s Jump Rope for Heart, the students learned jump rope skills and how their heart works. They also won prizes for raising money.

At South Mountain, that was a lot of money. Close to $11,300 was raised two years ago, placing the South Orange elementary school in the top 10 among all the Essex County schools that participated.

Mr. K -- physical education teacher Jeff Kaessheafer -- is still counting the money South Mountain students raised this year. “I love that our kids are active, healthy, and helping others.” he said. “It shows just how much they care.”

It was amazing to watch everybody jump. But what was most important was that everybody tried their best and had fun.

Aaron is a 3^rd grader at South Mountain Elementary School who wants to help people with heart disease and someday be able to say, “We have enough money to get your heart fixed. Thumbs up!”