Students honor teacher who died by raising funds for heart association

By Jennifer Eisenbart

Editor

During her time with the Burlington Area School District, kindergarten teacher Jennifer Libbey touched many people with her enthusiasm and love for her job.

When she died late last summer after suffering cardiac arrest while at a teaching conference in Wisconsin Rapids, district staff knew she her absence would be keenly felt.

“We already knew there was a change no matter what,” said Winkler Principal Jacqueline Syens, who worked with Libbey before she left the school last summer to become a 4-year-old kindergarten teacher for the district at a partner provider.

“It was just a huge upset to the building, that she had passed away and wasn’t going to be a part of BASD and we’d have no connection with her,” Syens added.

But Libbey’s influence carried over to this school year. So much so, in fact, that the recent “Jump Rope for Heart” American Heart Association fundraiser was held in Libbey’s honor.

A plaque will be hung at Winkler School commemorating both Libbey and her work with students.

Libbey’s mother-in-law, Victoria Libbey – the principal at Burlington’s Waller Elementary School – relayed that jumping rope was a passion of her daughter in law. Jennifer Libbey competed on the national level throughout high school and college, and even went on an international trip to New Zealand.

When she began teaching at Winkler, she started the school’s rope jumping program.

So when it came time for Jump Rope for Heart this year, students jumped in wholeheartedly once again with Winkler physical education teacher Siri Walby and BASD teacher Adam Cook leading the way.

An added bit of fun for the students was the earning of “rubber duckies” through the fundraising incentives. Students who hit various milestones with their fundraiser earned first a lanyard and their first rubber duck – and had the chance to earn five more.

The ducks have been present ever since with the students – perhaps the newest fashion trend. As Syens explained, many had the goal to “collect as many rubber duckies as possible.”

When it came down to the day of the event – roughly two weeks ago now – Walby had a surprise for her students. Instead of just jumping rope, students got a chance to do all sorts of jumping activities.

In addition to teaching students about their own heart rates and how to measure them, students got to jump over and crawl under obstacles, had contests to see how high they could jump and for how long, and got to jump on mats as well.

“The kids were ecstatic,” Walby said. “They loved it. I set it up the night before, and I was here when the kids came in in the morning, and they were ooing and ahhing.”

Walby said. Students made the important connection between physical activity and heart health.

“I loved seeing the kids make that connection between exercise and increasing heart rate and becoming stronger,” she said.