Roy Elementary teacher gets messy for a good cause
When Roy Elementary School P.E. teacher Matthew Brooke asked his students to take part in the Kids Heart Challenge, he didn’t know what to expect.
Brooke has been teaching for six years, but this is his first year at Roy, and he wasn’t sure how motivated students would be to raise money for the American Heart Association.
Before starting the challenge, Brooke added an interesting incentive: He said any student who raised at least $150 could pour a bucket of slime on his head. And if the entire school reached its goal of $2,500, Brooke and Principal Stephanie Weinheimer said they’d allow students to duct tape them to the flagpole.
It turns out that was motivation enough. Not only did 16 students meet the individual goal of $150, but the entire school doubled its goal and ended up raising $5,000 for the charity.
Brooke said he was head over heels excited and proud of his students.
“Not only did we double our goal of $2,500, but the students really learned the importance of their heart and the importance of raising money in order to help save lives. And honestly, that is what makes me happy,”he said.
While he’s thrilled that the school was able to raise so much money, Brooke’s equally excited to teach his students about how hearts work and how to keep them healthy.
“We were able to dive deep into how our blood moves through our body, lungs, and heart through videos and movement,” he said. “We had more time to share stories of people they know who have had a heart problem before.”
