Hoopla for hearts

Deirdre Newman

As the two jump ropes wiggled wildly like snakes, Jennifer Johnston,

10, summoned all her determination and took two high leaps over them.

The redhead’s freckled face flushed with excitement and exertion as

she hurried back in line to try it again.

Jennifer and her fellow fifth-graders at Adams Elementary School in

Costa Mesa got a fun workout Thursday as part of the school’s annual

Jump-n-Hoops for Heart. This year, the school raised more than $1,000 for

the American Heart Assn. -- double the goal.

The event enables the fifth-graders to work out their hearts in more

ways than one.

“It teaches them that even as kids they can make a difference,” said

Robyn Reese, a fifth-grade teacher. “Heart disease affects a lot of

people in a lot of forms.”

The students have been raising funds for the past two weeks and have

been gleaning important information about cardiovascular health from

teachers and the daily announcements by the student council delivered on

the public announcement system.

In addition to the Snake-n-Shake, other jump rope activities included

Double Dutch and team jump-roping, in which students intertwined their

ropes and jumped in sync.

There was also a whole lot of twirling going on, as hula hoops

competed with jump ropes for the students’ attention.

After jumping for a few minutes, the students took a three-minute

break and checked their heart rate to ensure they were in the target

range.

Miguel Villafuerte, 10, who displayed a knack for twirling a hula hoop

around his ankle, talked about his penchant for jumping and spinning

quickly between breaths.

“You can exercise and get faster at running,” Miguel said.

Amy Martinez, 10, said she enjoyed spending the time focusing on

health.

“It’s fun because you can hang out with your friends, exercise your

heart and get a healthy snack,” Amy said.

The event also provided an opportunity to hone important issues that

sometimes get short shrift because the students have physical education

only once a week, said Ayumi Kobayashi, a physical education instructor.

“There’s no way we can impact them,” Kobayashi said. “We can only do

the basics and try and give them skills.”