By Lisa Wilcox
Staff Writer
CARIBOU, Maine — Students at Teague Park School jumped right into the fund-raising spirit by participating in the American Heart Association’s Jump Rope for Heart annual event on Friday.
The students raised money by collecting donations from friends and relatives over the last several weeks. They then participated in a rope-jumping event held at the Wellness Center with an awards ceremony at the school later on in the day. Teague Park raised the second largest amount in the state with a total of $10,870.34. “The kids did an outstanding job!” praised Teague Park physical education teacher Amanda West. “It’s great to know that a little town in northern Maine is making a difference year after year.”
Due to a tie, the top 11 fund-raisers were given the privilege of throwing a pie in the face of a teacher or faculty member at the awards ceremony. The students who raised the most money were Ryan Austin, Chloe Sleeper, Nick Staples, Lucas Tompkins, Anna Thibodeau, Cullin Caverhill, Abbie McNeal, Emma Saucier, Paige Espling, Ethan Holdsworth and Chandler Tracy. Staples and Caverhill were absent, so two other students, Landon Thompson and Abbigail Turcotte, were selected from a drawing to replace them.
The teachers and faculty who graciously agreed to take a pie in the face were Principal Steve Austin, music teacher Amy Hunter, fifth-grade teacher Cindy Levasseur, fourth-grade teacher Cindy McDuffie, cafeteria worker Jo Emmert, art teacher Lena Tingley, fifth-grade teacher Dee Dee Duncan, third-grade teacher Fran Savage, American Heart Association representative Gary Urey, custodian Larry Plourde and West.
Karen Howe’s fourth-grade class raised the most money collectively with a total of $1,401.
The names of the students who participated were entered into a bike drawing with the winners being Maddison Stratton and Spencer Soucy.
At the jump-rope event, the students participated in several activities. James West, a medical lab technician at TAMC, volunteered at a heart rate station to teach the children how to monitor their heart rate during exercise. Healthy fruit snacks were doled out to the hungry participants.
“We had so many parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, who came to help turn a rope,” Amanda West commented, expressing her gratitude to everyone who helped organize the event, including those who set up the gym, fruit preparers and distributors, the fund-raising crew and money counters.
West also extended thanks to Kathy Mazzuchelli and the recreational center staff for all of their help during the day.
