Kids shoot hoops for heart health

Students enrolled at the North Salem Pequenakonck Elementary School raised more than $6,000 last month by shooting hoops for the American Heart Association’s Hoops for Hearts Campaign.

While donations continue to pour in this week since the competition has been extended, boys and girls still have a way to go to reach the school record set in 2008 when North Salem School District elementary kids raised more than $16,000 for the American Heart Association, which was the most money collected by any school in all of New York State.

Superintendent of Schools Ken Freeston commended the students as well as their parents and the school’s faculty: “Hoops for Heart gives our children an opportunity to work on their basketball skills while getting some heart-healthy exercise to raise funds that finance research and educational programs to fight heart disease and stroke.”

Meanwhile, at North Salem High/ Middle School, students also culminated a month long activity last week organized by the school’s chapter of the National Honor Society by supporting Women’s Heart Disease Awareness Month.

The celebration culminated in a “Go Red for Women’s Day,” when most students and faculty came to school wearing red.

National Honor Society advisor Sharon Verdejo said the school resembled a “sea of red!”

—Eric Gross