Last Friday, students at St. Mark Catholic School in Vienna jumped for joy after raising over $10,490 for the American Heart Association. Students in kindergarten through eighth grade participated in the fund-raiser, "Jump for Heart," in honor of Fr. Stewart Culkin, a founder of the school who died of a heart attack in October 2001.
Students began fund-raising four weeks ago, but started training for the Feb. 13, main event in October. Each class jumped rope in the school's gymnasium for several minutes. The pre-Valentines Day event raised over $10,000 for heart disease research, surpassing the original goal of $5,000.