Wantagh Eighth Graders Hooping For Heart Health

WANTAGH, NY. — A student basketball game at Wantagh Middle School carried some extra importance Wednesday, as students celebrated the 30th Hoop for Heart competition, a fundraising ballgame for the American Heart Association.

Organized by the school’s phys ed department, the Hoops for Heart game is a multi-week partnership with the American Heart Association that puts students in a fundraising role while simultaneously competing in hoops competitions in gym class. District officials said the gym was also decorated with homemade pink and red hearts, complete inspirational messages and notes written to family members who had suffered from heart disease.

The final of these competitions, district officials said, took place Wednesday, with eighth graders packing the gym to cheer on the three-dozen winners from sixth, seventh and eighth grade classes.

In the end, it was eighth grader Patrick O’Brien and Seventh Grader Brynn Kreutzberger who brought home the overall wins. The school raised $4,695 for the American Heart Association, with individual fundraising efforts being led by Hadley Schwarz, who raised $659.51, Landon Fusco, who raised $571.89 and Jace Tawfik, who raised $481.57.