(NAPSA)—Amiddle-school student who has been trained can save a life when someone needs CPR. That’s the word from the Amer- ican Heart Association (AHA) and the Ross Dress For Less stores. Ross is supporting AHA’s efforts to help save morelives in all communities by providing free CPR training resources to public schools in lower-incomeareas. Ross and its customers have raised funds to train thousands of 7th and 8th grade studentsin lifesaving CPR across the U.S. through its Help a Hero program supporting CPRin Schools. The American Heart Association’s goal is to pair each Ross Dress for Less store with a nearby public school that has at least 50 percent of its students receiving free or reduced-cost lunch. More than 1,100 schools in the U.S. will receive a CPR in Schools Training Kit, teaching materials to implement the program and a school-based report card at the end of the year that shows how many students were trained. Teachers also have access to AHA resources, volunteer mentors and CPR in Schools staff throughout the program. Learning To Save Lives Is Fun Montross Middle School in Westmoreland County, Va. is one of the schools to benefit from the grant program, with teachers recently training more than 200 girls and boys with an AHA CPR in Schools Training Kit. In only 30 minutes, students learned lifesaving Hands-Only CPR. Cyndie Smith, the teacher who implemented the program during the students’ health/PEclass, said the equipment was easy to use Thanks to a national retail chain, more than 1,100 schools in the U.S. will receive a CPR in Schools Training Kit along with teaching materials to implement the program. and well suited for her middle school students. “CPR in Schools is awesome! This is a dynamic, fun and easyto-use CPR program that my middle-school students loved,” Smith said. She added that she was delighted and impressed by the quality and quantity of the equipment. Her students liked the program so much, said Smith, that they wanted to share it with their parents at a student-taught workshop for parents during a monthly Parent and Family Organization meeting. “We sincerely thank the AHA and Rossstores for choosing Montross Middle School to receive the CPRin Schools training kit. We’re so fortunate that our students had the opportunity to work with this exceptional program and receive this valuable training,” Smith said. To learn more about AHA’s CPR in Schools initiatives, call 1-877-AHA4CPR or visit www. heart.org/CPRinSchools.
