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In the month of February, Thomas Elementary School celebrated American Heart Awareness Month by participating in activities to encourage heart health awareness and inform students of its importance.

Staff and students wore red shirts to show their support of heart health awareness. Classes were shown a video about how the heart works by the school’s Health Ahead/HeartSmart program coordinator, Tara Hartzog.

Students colored a diagram of the different areas of the heart, which showed how blood circulates through the heart. They discussed healthy lifestyle choices to encourage maintaining a life long healthy heart.

These activities are financially funded by the LSU Health Ahead/HeartSmart Children’s Health Program, which provides funding for physical education equipment, health-related information, and/or other supplies necessary for promoting awareness. The program addresses not only obesity, nutrition, and exercise, but social issues, such as violent behavior, school dropouts and substance abuse.

Dr. Jihua Xu, M.D. Ph.D. of LSU Health Sciences Center, is the program director.