FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) — Vandergriff Elementary School administrators are working from the roof of the school Friday (March 16) after students raised more than $13,800 through the American Heart Association’s Jump Rope for Heart Program.
Principal Andrea Sego and Assistant Principal Jay Mirus said they’re up there as a fun reward for their students’ fundraising efforts, which set a record for the school.
Jump Rope for Heart events engage elementary students with jumping rope and empower them to improve their own health while helping children with heart-related issues.
One of Vandergriff Elementary’s own students has a “special heart.” Ryder Roark is a second grader, he had surgery to fix a coarctation of the aorta.
According to the American Heart Association, most families don’t know the risks of congenital heart defects. About 32,000 infants are diagnosed with a congenital heart defect each year, and 1.3 million Americans are living with one.