Spring Branch ISD Featured News

The American Heart Association’s (AHA) 2021 Kids Heart Challenge campaign to raise awareness for heart health is being kicked off this week in health fitness classes at Hunters Creek Elementary in Spring Branch ISD.

“In fact, Hunters Creek is the first school in the country to get started on the campaign this year,” Ashley Avalos, AHA’s Youth Market Director, said. And for the first time, every elementary school in SBISD will participate in the Kids Heart Challenge at different time periods throughout this year.

An online fundraising element to the campaign teaches students about the power of giving. A promotional video featuring Charlie, a Hunters Creek student who had a heart condition at birth requiring surgery, is being distributed to schools across Texas to help participating students understand how the funds they raise during the campaign will be invested in heart research. 

“Thank you for listening to my story,” Charlie said in the video. “And thank you to the coaches who started this in the beginning.”

The AHA provides schools with Social-Emotional Learning and Science/Technology/Engineering and Math curriculum for engaging the students in multiple ways to understand the importance of heart health.

Most importantly, health fitness teachers receive 21 days of heart health activity resources and curriculum, aligned with Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) state educational standards, from the AHA to get young hearts pumping for better health. 

At the end of the two- to four-week campaign (timeframe varies from school to school) a culminating event is usually planned to instill some friendly competition. “It could be that students who raise donations get to participate in something like ‘slime the PE teacher,’” Pamela Thompson, Assistant Director of Health Fitness for SBISD, said. 

“One year I got slimed, and I don’t even want to know where those clothes ended up,” she laughed. “The kids really enjoyed it.”

Schools that reach certain fundraising milestones during their Kids Heart Challenges earn incentives from US Games to purchase additional equipment for their gyms. Participating campuses also qualify to apply for grant funding from the AHA at the end of the school year.

We are #SBISDProud of the elementary students who will participate in the Kids Heart Challenge this year. We know you will put your hearts into it!