Summer Lifesavers

By Melissa Solis

Miami students are learning CPR, leadership, and heart-healthy habits.

What if your child could head into summer with a real-life superpower?

Not flying. Not invisibility. Something even more meaningful: the ability to help save a life.

As Miami families enjoy summer break, students across the community are carrying with them more than memories from the school year. They are also taking home lifesaving skills, healthy habits, and the confidence to make a difference when it matters most.

Through programs like the American Heart Association’s Kids Heart Challenge and American Heart Challenge, students are learning Hands-Only CPR, building leadership skills, and helping create healthier, safer schools and neighborhoods.

The Kids Heart Challenge helps elementary students learn about heart health, teamwork, kindness, and helping others through fun activities and school-wide challenges. The American Heart Challenge gives middle and high school students the chance to lead service projects, raise awareness, support lifesaving causes, and inspire classmates to take action.

This year, Epiphany Catholic School was one of the Miami schools participating in the  Kids Heart Challenge, and its students made an incredible impact. The school raised the most funds in support of the American Heart Association, with students and families raising $80,662, sharing heart-healthy information with 815 families, and helping 70 families learn Hands-Only CPR and the warning signs of a stroke.

Belen Jesuit Preparatory School also joined the effort through the American Heart Challenge, showing students they are never too young to make a difference. The school’s Heart Club recently received an American Heart Association grant to help expand CPR education and training opportunities on campus, empowering students to teach classmates about heart health, CPR, and how to become lifesavers in their community.

“Our Heart Club is proof that students can lead change. Through the American Heart Association, we’re not just learning about heart health, we’re empowering our school and community to be part of the Nation of Lifesavers.” said Marcelo Perez, Heart Club President and student at Belen Jesuit Preparatory School.

When someone experiences cardiac arrest, every second counts. CPR can double or even triple a person’s chance of survival, and Hands-Only CPR is a skill anyone can learn.

This summer, Miami students are carrying confidence, compassion, leadership, and the power to help save lives.