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Photograph by George Sakkestad

Students at Saratoga Elementary School raised funds for the American Heart Association and also raised awareness about a heart-healthy lifestyle at the Jump Rope for Heart on Feb. 15. Second-graders (jumping, from left) MacKenzie Pinn and Dallas Morganstern participate in the event.

Students don't miss a beat in jump rope fund-raiser

By Michele Tjin

Drew Bryan is doing what he can to keep his 11-year-old heart healthy and pumping for as long as possible. He likes to snack on fresh fruit such as strawberries but draws the line at eating asparagus, squash and cooked broccoli.

Drew also recently jumped his heart out for Jump Rope for Heart, a school-wide fund-raiser at Saratoga Elementary School aimed to teach health basics.

"It's very cool and a fun exercise," the fifth-grader said. "I practiced at home."

Drew was one of the 500 or so students participating in the fund-raiser, where they collected money for the local chapter of American Heart Association. For six weeks, a representative from the organization came to their school to talk about heart health, and the students responded by playing jump rope games and holding jump rope competitions on Feb. 15. At different stations, there were double dutch activities, races and endurance contests to see who could last the longest, with some nimble-footed ones jumping for more than six minutes without getting the rope tangled.

"If you don't have your health, you don't have anything," said Jill Avery-Zuleeg, the parent who organized the day's activities and was the queen of hearts for a day. "They learned to be selfless and give back to humanity at large."

Avery-Zuleeg went to great lengths to make sure the day had a party-like atmosphere. The school was decked out with streamers and 150 balloons in every shade of red. A bubble machine and energetic jumping music rounded out the fun.

"I wanted to make it a special day," Avery-Zuleeg said. "But as fun as it was, it was a serious cause. We didn't want to lose that message either."

This was the first year that Saratoga held the Jump Rope for Heart activity, and by all measures the day was a success. The American Heart Association loaned the school 400 jump ropes, and some students brought their own from home. To top it off, the weather cooperated. Tough fifth-grade boys jumped side by side with younger students, and everyone had fun, Avery-Zuleeg said.

"We reinstilled the lost art of healthy exercise," she said.

It's not a surprise that Avery-Zuleeg would volunteer to hold a jump rope event for the whole school. She's always been involved in sports and loves doing triathlons. Three times a week, she and a group of Saratoga parents meet at 6:15 a.m. to run in Los Gatos.

"I have to move," she said. "I just love health and fitness."

For Avery-Zuleeg, it's important for children to know their parents are as active as they are, she said. Children have plenty of extracurricular sports, but she wouldn't mind seeing more physical activities during the school day.

"Everyone got to participate," she said of the jump rope games. "I watched those fifth-graders hang out with those third-graders and share a common bond. It unified our school. It would be a positive thing to have more of these things."

The students found personal reasons to take part. They each had a colored heart that bore the name of somebody to whom they dedicated their jump roping experience.

"I dedicated it to my uncle who died of a heart failure," Madison Gress, a fourth-grader, said. "They told us about how to eat good food and to exercise so we won't have heart diseases."

Michael Eschen doesn't typically jump rope during recess and would much rather play capture the flag with his friends. But Michael, 11, still enjoyed Jump Rope for Heart and was sweating through it.

"I learned to be active so you don't turn into a [couch] potato," he said.

Parents were just as pleased to see the school raising awareness for health. Maria Gress was on hand, turning the long ropes during the day, and liked to see little feet moving.

"All the fifth-grade boys were jumping, and they didn't feel that this isn't cool," she said.

Jump Rope for Heart isn't the only way heart rates go up at Saratoga.

"We are very fortunate that our school has a noon league run by volunteers, where every break at lunch kids have incredible access to jump roping, hula hoops and handball," Gress said.

It was evident to Mary Eschen that her two sons had fun, and she makes sure she practices at home what they're learning about healthy eating.

"I'm the mean mom," she said with a laugh. "I make them eat healthy and organic food. We don't eat white rice. We eat brown rice."

Volunteers don't know yet how much money was raised, but they say collecting dollars isn't as important as maintaining good health.

"It was our first time doing this event, and people were wowed. It was a magical day," Avery-Zuleeg said. "Instead of a runner's high, it was a jump rope high. The beauty of exercise is that when you get moving, you feel fantastic. That was a large part of it."

Would Avery-Zuleeg ever volunteer to put on another jump rope day for the school? In a heartbeat!