Irby Elementary jumps rope for hearts on Valentine's Day

CARL MCKINNEY/Alachua County Today

A student leaps over her rope. The event raised around $2,000 by the time it was over. About five days later, the total was up to nearly $5,000.

ALACHUA –Caiden Flanigan was born with two holes in his heart. By now, at the age of 7, one of the holes has almost completely closed up. Caiden, a student of W.W. Irby Elementary School in Alachua, was the Heart Ambassador for this year’s Jump Rope for Heart event.

For over 20 years, Irby Elementary has participated in Jump Rope for Heart, which is dedicated to raising money and awareness for healthy hearts and healthy living. This year, it took place from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 14.

“It makes more people aware,” said Catherine Flanigan, grandmother of Caiden. “These diseases can affect children, they can affect adults.”

Many parents volunteered to help with the event, which couldn’t have taken place without them, said Ray Crone, physical education teacher at Irby.

“It’s a community event,” he said. “It’s not just for the school.”

Jump Rope for Heart has been around for 35 years. This is Irby’s 21st year participating. It aims to promote health awareness and live a healthy lifestyle by exercising, eating well and getting adequate sleep, in addition to raising money.  

The goal this year was to raise $8,000 for the American Heart Association. By raising money, students had a chance to earn tiny rubber ducks as trophies. The top duck, earned once a child reaches $75 in donations, is Mr. Cool, the P.E. duck. The students went on a mission to gather funds from local residents. They then assembled at the school’s bus depot for a one-hour jump rope marathon.

Last year’s biggest earner, Ava Adams, who raised $1,264, has a cousin who had to have heart surgery when he was only a 4-month-old. Adams, who had raised $540 at the time she spoke to Alachua County Today, said she thought of her cousin when she was jumping rope.

The event started out with a 20-minute long-rope jump across all grade levels. Then, students switched to shorter ropes. Finally, there was a first-grade and second-grade competition to see who the best at each grade-level was.

Callie Callaway was the top first-grader, with CJ Ramsey being the best second-grader.

The students get excited about Jump Rope for Heart, Crone said.

Heavyn Kies was so eager for the occasion that she started practicing as soon as she woke up that morning.

“She made my day,” Crone said. “She couldn’t wait to get here.”

“It was wonderful to see all the boys and girls excited,” said Valdenora Fortner, principal of Irby.

“They truly understand they were doing it to help people with their hearts.”

Not every child got to be in the big competition. Qualifying competitions were held, and only the best could be in Jump Rope for Heart.

By the time the children were done jumping rope, the school had raised over $2,000, though it was still accepting donations. The latest figure given to Alachua County Today by crone was around $5,000.

“Even though we are short of the $8,000, I would think that raising nearly $5,000 is an accomplishment in this economy,” he said.

Whoever raises the most money gets the honor of throwing a pie in Crone’s face.

The event is usually held on a Wednesday, but bad weather prompted the school to postpone it until Valentine’s Day.

The children grasped the impact of what they were doing, Crone said.

“We were helping kids who have sick hearts,” said Zoe Jeter, 7.

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