Kids heart jumping rope

Students at Grapevine Elementary School hopped and skipped their way to raising more than $20,000 for the American Heart Association in Jump Rope for Heart.

Grapevine Elementary Principal Liz Hilcher said many families donated in honor of a loved one with heart disease.

All 500 students at GES jumped rope every day for two weeks in PE class this month, as part of Jump Rope for Heart.

Hilcher said the kids loved learning and trying new tricks or challenges with the jump rope.

Students also learned about how to keep their heart healthy by getting sixty minutes of exercise daily, eating more fruits and vegetables and the parts of the heart and how it works. They also enjoyed listening to and finding their own heart rate, she said.

According to the American Heart Association, heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death in the United States. Every year, about 790,000 people in the United States have heart attacks and about 114,000 of them die as a result of the incident.

This story was originally published February 21, 2017 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Kids heart jumping rope."