Students at Carver Elementary and Richmond Hill Elementary are used to doing well on test scores.
They’re not bad at good causes, either, after both finished among the top 20 in Georgia in raising funds for the American Heart Association through the Jump Rope For Heart/Hoops for Heart programs.
Led by coordinators Christy Crowley and Mario Anderson, Carver was third in the state, raising more than $37,327. Darcy Blakewood coordinated the Richmond Hill Elementary effort, and students there raised more than $19,980, good enough to place RHES No. 15.
That’s no small achievement, considering some 800 schools in Georgia participated in the fundraisers.
"It is awesome that Carver Elementary was No. 3 in the state in 2014 JRFH donations. Our closest donation competitor has always been May Howard Elementary," Carver Principal Crystal Morales said. "We have made it in the top 25 and top 10 in the past few years but this was quite a surprise."
Morales praised Crowley and Anderson for leading the charge.
"(They) do an excellent job of promoting JRFH," Morales said. "The ability to donate online has made a tremendous difference in our donations over the last few years. The kids love it and the teachers support it. I try not to focus on the donation amounts turned in during the two-day event but it is hard not to get excited when you are so close to matching the previous year’s donations. It is a true testament of what "giving" is when kids and your community can collect that generous amount of money in these difficult economic times."
Morales said in all Carver raised over $60,000 in donations last year for various fundraising efforts.
"Last year from the months of February to May Carver collected over $60,000 in donations.The top school was St. Benedict’s Episcopal Day School in Cobb County. It raised more than $67,000. Greater Atlanta Christian was No. 2, with more than $39,700 raised.
The only other Coastal Empire schools were Chatham County’s May Howard Elementary, which finished No. 6 with $26,205 raised; and Satilla Marsh Elementary in Glynn County, which raised more than $16,520 to finish No. 21.