Edison Students Jump, Throw, Dribble and Pass for Hearts

The gym at Edison Intermediate School was rocking Monday as students took a break from the regular gym class routine to get a heart friendly workout set to pop music with a basketball twist.

The "Hoops for Hearts" event is an annual celebration of heart healthy lifestyles tied to the events sponsored by the American Heart Association. It is a continuation of the jump-rope for heart programs sponsored by the AHA for elementary school students. Todd Custer, a physical education teacher at Edison, said the basketball themed program is considered a better fit for the students in sixth to eighth grades.

The program also served as a celebration of the AHA fundraising drive held at Edison over the last few weeks. This included students in health and physical education classes running their own fundraising drivs for the heart program. The three top students raised over $4,000 for the heart charity.

Dan Savickas, an eighth grader, raised $1,726 to be the top fundraiser in the school. This is his second year at the top of the school's fundraising pile. Seventh grader James Goldberger was not that far behind Savickas, bringing in $1,677 which is tied to his bar mitzvah project. His goal is $3,600 and he will be raising money until April. Seth Botos, a seventh grader, was in third place, donating $800 of his bar mitzvah money to the AHA. Edison teacher Corrine Kelly's eighth period health class won the fundriasing contest, averaging $100.55 per student in funds raised during the contest.

Savickas said he was able to bring in the largest haul through a personal fundraising appeal, mainly through conversations with friends and relatives. He said his parents helped with the outreach efforts. He noted that his desire to raise money for the AHA was personal in nature.

"My grandfather died of a stroke and my father has had a series of heart complications over the years, so I had a personal connection," he said.

Goldberger also focused on the personal approach, crafting a fundraising letter which was sent out in both paper and electronic form to friends and relatives that he and his family considered good candidates to donate to the project. He said studying the AHA helped him want to jump into the cause.

"When I went on the website I was watching the videos and I felt a connection," he said.

Botos choose to make a personal sacrifice for the greater good, using the money he received from his bar mitzvah in order to help further the study of heart disease. He said he wanted his good fortune to help many.

"It helps a lot of people who have a disease and can give them life," he said of his donation.

Kelly's health class will be rewarded with a heart healthy class trip in June for their efforts in raising the most of any class in the school. She said the class trip will be for a fun physical activity which is heart healthy. Right now a trip to the Westfield Y, to use the rock climbing wall or the pool is one possibility. Other ideas under consideration include roller skating and bowling. Kelly said the class is currently discussing the various ideas and hopes to come to a consensus on a field trip in the coming months.

Kelly's colleague, Christine Cabrales, a physical education teacher at the school said she is happy for the fundraising for the heart association because she too has a family connection to heart disease.

"I am so proud of the studnts for raising so much money for the heart association," Cabrales said. "I love doing this event because my daughter, Caitlin, had heart surgery when she was eight months old. I am eternally grateful to the team of cardiologists and surgeons that helped fix her heart. The funds that the American Heart Association receives are vital for protecting today's and future generations of children from the struggles of heart disease.

While Savickas, Goldberger and Botos were the top three fundraisers, the project was a school wide effort. This included Shannon Stone, a French teacher, designing and implementing a cross curricular lesson for the event and the school administration working with the health department to put together a heart healthy curriculum. The school's art department designed posters for the event and teachers donated money to the effort. The students decorated t-shirts and the man signs decorating the gym.

Custer said the schoolwide effort is part of the school community's commitment to helping the non-profit sector.

"Our school does a great job at getting kids involved in charities no matter what the cause, whether it's building wells in Africa or building awareness on various health issues, it's awesome to see young people get involved and work together to support a cause, any cause," he said.

During Monday's event, the students participated in 11 heart friendly basketball related activities. The gym was packed with students moving from station to station, enjoying themselves while also helping their cardiovascular system.

The stations included bleacher dips, bleacher step ups, jump rope, vertical jump, free weights, dynabands, lay ups, mini hurdles, the popular basketball game of knockout, medicine balls and a  dribbling/ball handling clinic. The music blared during the period with the basketball buzzer going off to get the students to move to the next station.

At the vertical jump station, manned by Corales, most students got between seven and eight feet off the ground. They tried to meet the record of 10 feet set by physical education teacher Matthew Poznanski, but kept coming up short.

Kelly said the entire program, from fundraising to the students jumping, dribbling and passing on Monday is part of her and her colleagues goal to help the school's students.

"As a physical education staff our goal is to encourage Edison students to make heart healthy choices and to stay active," she said. "Hoops for Hearts is an excellent event to promote this."