By Anita Weier
Northside News
Mendota Elementary School on the Northside is collaborating with the American Heart Association in a program aimed at improving heart health for students. The Kids Heart Challenge teaches children how to take care of their hearts and do lifesaving tasks such as CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation).
“It gives kids a chance to be heroes,” Jess Walker, a physical education teacher at the school, told Channel 27 News recently.
The program includes making a food pantry at the school at 4002 School Road extremely heart healthy, creating a new model of heart-healthy food pantries.
Mendota School has been designated by the Madison Metropolitan School District as a community school. Such schools partner with neighborhood centers and after-school programs. There are 280 students at Mendota, and 74% are economically disadvantaged.
Seven other schools in Madison will also participate in the Heart Healthy program, but Mendota is the first. In addition to the American Heart Association, a key partner in the Heart Healthy program will be the local Sub-Zero company.
Students at the 4K-5 school will learn the importance of eating fruits and vegetables, drinking water, getting from nine to 11 hours of sleep every night, and being kind, according to Amanda Zipperer of the Heart Association. She did a presentation at Mendota in which she stressed that heart diseases affect one in three people in the United States. The students were also taught how to spot signs of a stroke or heart attack.
Physical education teachers at the schools involved will stress heart healthy activities throughout the school year.
