Three local service groups are showing a lot of heart toward the Kent School District.
Quota International, the Rotary Club of Kent and Kiwanis have all opened their hearts and wallets to ensure a program designed to keep young hearts strong continues to beat throughout the district.
Each service group donated $1,120 to the district toward the purchase of a Kids Take Heart kit from the Hope Heart Institute, a program that teaches elementary school children the importance of life-long heart health.
(No word on whether they were given orange juice and a cookie following the donation.)
“What I was hoping to come from it is an impact on physical health,” said Jayne Huston, of Quota International of Kent Valley.
Huston and her service club spearheaded the donation after Huston discovered the program during a heart walk, something she began doing because of her father’s heart troubles.
Kids Take Heart is a kit-based health and fitness program designed to show elementary school children how the circulatory system works and how best to keep it running smoothly.
“I was impressed with the way it handles all the areas [of heart health],” Huston said, specifically citing the chapter on controlling temper and relieving stress.
According to Kids Take Heart Program Manager Laurie Sween, the kit comes in five large tubs and includes such teaching aides as foam hearts, models, activities (all with a heart theme) and even a 6-foot by 12-foot map of the circulatory system that allows students to walk the course taken by blood cells.
The kit also includes a chapter on nutrition that includes portion control and serving size and one on setting goals and reducing stress.
“The point is to empower kids to make choices that improve their future health and wellness and therefore prevent disease,” Sween said, adding about stress, “Kiddos feel the same things we do but don’t have the word base for it.”
Huston said after seeing the program, she thought it was a great way to help get children active, something that has become more of an issue as childhood obesity rates continue to rise due to a more sedentary lifestyle.
Huston contacted other local service groups, convincing both the Kiwanis and the Rotary to match Quota’s donation. The total will pay for one kit for the next school year, something that would not have been possible without the donation.
“We would not be able to afford the kit at all,” said Kent Health and Fitness and Science Coordinator Bruce Kelly. “There’s no way I could find that much money.”
Kelly said the district’s health budget was cut by 20 percent for the upcoming school year, making it impossible to fund electives like Kids Take Heart.
“It’s a pretty significant hit,” he said.
Instead, physical education teachers will have the opportunity to sign up for the kit in two-week stints. In those two weeks, each teacher can teach the lesson to fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders.
The kits also have been approved by the school board as supplemental curriculum, but is a voluntary program.
By reaching the kids at such a young age, Sween said they hope to make changes that will mean healthier lives into the future.
“It’s easier to make a life change at their age,” she said.
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