43
Students jump-start heart campaign
By ABBY SLANKER
C.H. Campbell Elementary School kicked off its annual American Heart Association Jump Rope for Heart campaign with a music-filled, high-energy assembly on Oct. 19. Fourth-grade students, dressed in Canfield Cardinal red and black, put on a jump rope show for their fellow students, family and friends.
Ronie Haurin, C.H. Campbell physical education instructor, readied the students for their performance.
To start, the fourth-graders entered the gym to Van Halen’s “Jump” and pretended to jump rope around the gym. After a brief introduction and a jump rope for heart cheer, the students executed their group exercise of taking turns jumping rope while other students twirled the rope.
As an inspiration for the campaign, the students were shown a video, courtesy of the American Heart Association, with testimonials from children who have been helped by the Jump Rope for Heart campaign. The children explained how the American Heart Association helped them and encouraged the C.H. students to be heart heroes to help a child in need. After the video, the fourth-grade students impressed and amazed the crowd with their jump rope skills.
The students performed individually and in groups to the cheers of their fellow students. Some stunts the students executed were cartwheels into a twirling rope, jumping on one foot, criss-cross, twirling the rope backward, crouching to the floor, Double Dutch, bouncing a basketball to a jumping students and throwing a football to a jumping student.
To show that families can jump rope together and work together for the campaign, a brother and sister team performed for the crowd.
Much to the delight of the entire audience, the fourth-grade teachers were then asked to join the fun and jump some rope themselves, and they successfully accomplished the task. The icing on the cake for the entire student body, and raising the noise level and cheering considerably, was when C.H. Campbell Elementary School Principal Travis Lavery was persuaded to try his hand at a twirling jump rope. If it was possible, the cheering got even louder when Lavery successfully executed several jumps and twists.
To end the assembly, the fourth-graders lined up and carried out a loud back and forth cheer in support of the American Heart Association’s campaign, complete with letter cards spelling out Jump Rope for Heart.