Recently, the Canton Middle School student body completed a highly successful March fundraising campaign for the American Heart Association. The campaign, known as Hoops for Heart, helps students learn all about the importance of the human heart and how to take good care of it. The program also encourages students to reach out to friends and family to solicit donations in support of the AHA research and educational initiatives that help to save lives in the Haywood County community. The American Heart Association is the largest private group funding research into the prevention of heart disease and stroke in America.
Under the guidance of the CMS Healthful Living department, students collected cash donations as well as donations online through AHA-facilitated web tools. The school’s goal was to reach $1,500 in donated funds, and by the end of the drive the CMS student body had smashed though that to the tune of $2,078.08 in contributions.
Seventh grader MaeAnna Norris, one of the top students to collect donations, was deeply touched by the Hoops for Heart drive. Her family experienced the loss of her maternal grandmother due to heart disease, and their donation was made in her memory. For sixth grader Maggie McCracken, another top donation-earning student, the motivation to help others moved her action. “I knew it would change somebody’s life and that made me feel really good inside,” she said. “I knew I made a small difference in the world.”
Sixth grader Cheyenne Rogers, another top donation collector, perhaps summed it up best when he said that supporting the Hoops for Heart drive was, “Fun, and it’s nice to help out!”
During the fundraising drive, in addition to learning all about heart health, students were also educated about the warning signs of heart attacks and strokes, as well as how those problems do not just affect the elderly. Hand-made signs went up all around campus providing important information and reminders about heart health.
In addition, the Physical Education teachers ran a three-on-three basketball tournament in which winning student teams from each grade level earned the right to compete against a faculty team. Students earning top spots for collecting donations were also eligible to compete against the teacher/administrator team.
Lead teacher Amy Boswell was happy to show off her basketball skills in the name of promoting heart health, even though she had a layup epically blocked by eighth grader Merit Kuykendall. “That block was OK because we still dominated,” she said. The faculty, in fact, won all three contests against the students on the final day of the fundraising drive.
It was the students, though, who won the battle of knowledge and empathy where heart health and disease prevention is concerned. Not only did they exceed the fundraising goal by over 33%, they now also know better how to help care for their own hearts as well as help educate their friends and loved ones to do the same.
For teacher Jessica Clontz, who spearheaded the campaign, the depth of involvement among both students and faculty was key. “I am thankful for all the hard work the Healthful Living teachers put into it, the administration for allowing us to do this, and for the core teachers for allowing us to use their planning time to play the game. This was totally a school-wide commitment!”
Submitted By: William Hunt, Canton Middle School
