Gause Elementary students take part in Kid’s Heart Challenge

Mark Bauer stood in a nearly empty Gause Elementary School gymnasium on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 28, wiping “silly string” from his face and clothes.

The Gause physical education teacher didn’t seem to mind at all that 27 enthusiastic students had just covered him from head to toe with brightly-colored liquid plastic streams.

“Well,” Bauer said, grinning, “it’s for a good cause.”

The students who raised at least $25 for the American Heart Association’s Kid’s Heart Challenge were rewarded with an opportunity to spray Bauer with “silly string” at the conclusion of the annual fundraiser, which encourages children to make healthy food choices, exercise and learn hands-free cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR),

During the five-week challenge, Bauer’s students participated in activities that focused on exercise and nutrition, and parents were encouraged to register online to learn hands-free CPR and make a donation to the AHA. In total, Gause students raised $2,709 for the Dallas-based nonprofit organization.

“I used the five weeks to not only stress the importance of exercise, but also focus on nutrition,” Bauer said. “During class, my students also learned how diet can change the body’s composition and how food is energy for the body, and that we need to make healthy choices so that our body has the energy it needs to grow, work and play.”

Bauer said the Kids Heart Challenge aligns to his curriculum and reinforces the concepts of health and fitness that his students learn in his classes.

“I really liked this year’s emphasis on learning hands-free CPR,” he said. “CPR is a lifelong skill. You never know when you might need to use it.”