Jump Rope for Heart Not Just for Schools! Bear Williams CAHPERD The California Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance

Session Goals / Outcomes 1.Define and communicate how Jump Rope for Heart programs can be utilized in recreational settings. 2.Increase understanding on benefits of Jump Rope for Heart program and how to disseminate that information to your community. 3.Produce peer generated ideas on the variety of areas in which Jump Rope for Heart programs can be implemented.

Jump Rope for Heart and the American Heart Association Jump Rope for Heart (JRFH) is a national fundraising program sponsored by AAHPERD and the American Heart Association that promotes physical activity, heart healthy living, and community service to children. JRFH is targeted at students in elementary schools, but anyone can hold a program at a child care / after-school program center, community /parks center, or anywhere!

Jump Rope for Heart and the American Heart Association Jump Rope For Heart... Is a fun event! Is an educational program for all participants. Promotes community service. Gets participants active! Raises money to fund lifesaving research and educational programs. Teaches students to set and achieve goals and discover that they can make a difference! Reference:

Jump Rope for Heart and the American Heart Association What makes JRFH Unique? The educational component: –AHA provides educational materials and lesson plans –Materials focus on heart disease and stroke related issues heart attack stroke warning signs importance of physical activity anti-tobacco messages Other perks: –Coordinators receive jump ropes to use in their programs –There is also an opportunity to earn US GAMES certificates (to purchase new physical activity equipment for their programs). Reference:

Jump Rope for Heart and the American Heart Association What is the basic outline of a JRFH program? Each JRFH program kit includes “lesson plans” to teach / inform about heart health and other heart-related issues. Kits also include basic skills lessons for jump rope skills practice. It is easy to use the kit as a “program in a box” to combine understanding of heart health and practice of jump ropes skills. Each kit is set up to provide multiple days of discussion and physical activity lessons related to heart health and jump rope skills.

Jump Rope for Heart and the American Heart Association What is the basic outline of a JRFH program? In addition to the “lesson plans” and skills components, the JRFH program outlines how to participate in a fundraising program that ends with a culminating “jump-a-thon” event. Participants in the jump rope program can not only learn and practice rope jumping skills and increase understanding of heart- health issues, but can participate in a community-service project to raise funds for the American Heart Association. JRFH combines learning, physical activity, and community service into one program.

Jump Rope Programs in the Recreational Setting Sarasota County Parks and Recreation “Tween” Summer Camp – Jump Rope Component Monday through Friday instruction for 127 campers aged 5-14 years for about 30 minutes/day. Camp program was 4-weeks long. Improvement of rope skills from Week 1 to Week 3: –42/127 (33%) could jump > 10 times/minute at Week 1 –120/217 (94%) could jump >15 times/minute at Week 3 –6/127 (5%) could jump > 10 times without stopping at Week 1 –120/127 (94%) could jump > 15 times without stopping at Week 3 Reference: Florida Public Health Review, 2005; 2:

Jump Rope Programs in the Recreational Setting Sarasota County Parks and Recreation “Tween” Summer Camp – Jump Rope Component Initially, many of the youth did not like the jump rope component of the camp – primarily because they did not know how to jump! At the beginning of the program, the children looked clumsy, fell a lot, and complained about the heat (despite jumping in a shaded outdoor basketball court). As they began to learn the skills, liked jumping rope better. They also seemed to like group jumping better [than individual jumping], where the rope is turned for them, in part because someone usually got to rest while someone else was jumping. Reference: Florida Public Health Review, 2005; 2:

Jump Rope Programs in the Recreational Setting City of Tulsa Jump Rope Program City of Tulsa introduces a free Jump Rope program for ages 5-adult one day a week in the evenings. Funded by a grant from NRPA to develop a program to fight childhood obesity. Program designed as a three-year jump rope program starting with the one day per week skills class at one of their recreation facilities. Reference: The City of Tulsa Online -

Jump Rope Programs in the Recreational Setting City of Evanston, WY – Half Day Activity City of Evanston Parks and Rec. coordinates a JRFH Event in conjunction with a known half day of school. Event takes place at the Evanston Recreation Center for 1.5 hours. Rec. Center staff work with local schools to introduce the program and the fundraising components and practice jump rope skills in their PE classes. Reference: City of Evanston, WY Parks and Rec. -

Jump Rope Programs in the Recreational Setting Apache Junction Parks & Recreation Co-Sponsors Jump Rope for Heart Event with Apache Junction Unified School District Program is started / introduced in schools within the Apache Junction Unified School District through PE classes. Culminating jump-a-thon event is hosted by Apache Junction Parks and Rec. at the AJ Multi-Generational Center. Includes festival atmosphere with music, food, games, etc. Reference: City of Apache Junction, AZ Parks and Rec. -

Jump Rope Programs in the Recreational Setting Additional Parks and Recreation Agencies with Jump Rope and/or JRFH Programs Hartford County Parks and Recreation Hernando County Parks and Recreation Howard County Parks and Recreation Durham Recreation and Park District - &option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=40

Jump Rope Programs in Your Setting! In Groups – Come up with your own program… What kind of jump rope program would best align with your chosen agency? What would make for the ideal jump rope program? How would you incorporate the various components of the JRFH event into your overall program? How could you make your program different or unique from what has already been done? How do you plan to get the information out about your program to the community? How do you plan to convince community members of the benefits of your program?

Jump Rope Programs in Your Setting! Group Ideas: Already set, one-hour captive audience of students with disabilities. Multiple days a week. In one hour can incorporate jump rope skills and practice as well as heart-health learning. One group discussed starting programs from scratch for a new city recreation program. With this opportunity you can implement ANY program – once a week family open classes of jump rope skills, multiple-day camp-type setting, or festival- style or day-long events that incorporate a Jump Rope for Heart event into the day for community members to participate in.

Jump Rope Skills I’ve never led a jump rope session – I don’t even know how to jump rope! Now what!??!

Jump Rope Skills Tools Available for Learning / Teaching Jump Roping Take a class yourself! Demonstration Teams CAHPERD website ( JRFH – AHA skills tools. Fitness Centers

Jump Rope Skills deo.html FitnessSessionNotes-ReneBibaud.pdf &osMod=index&Itemid=26&cPath=10

Thank You! Thank you for participating in this session – now go implement your programs!