After being diagnosed at birth with a heart condition, 10-year-old Miranda Taylor is now acting as an advocate to raise heart health awareness amongst her fellow students.

Miranda, a rising fifth grader at West View Elementary School, was born with cardio pulmonary stenosis, otherwise known as a heart murmur. It is a condition doctors hope she will one day outgrow, but for now, she doesn’t let anything hold her back.

“She has not had any limitations as to what she can or cannot do,” said Julee Winings, Miranda’s mother. “She is very much a very active 10-year-[old] little girl and loves to do gymnastics and go swimming. She also loves to draw and do crafts.”

And for the past few years, she’s been putting her energy into getting friends and classmates involved in the American Heart Association’s Jump Rope for Heart program.

Miranda, along with officials from the AHA, met with Johnston County Schools superintendent Dr. Ed Croom on Aug. 5 to encourage the continued participation in the program.

The school system plans to team up with the AHA again this year to raise money to help battle heart disease, the number two leading cause of death among children.

Last year, the JCS elementary and middle schools that participated in the Jump Rope for Heart and Hoops for Heart drives raised a total of $104,672.60.

Polenta Elementary School led the participating schools with $11,890 raised.

“This is a nationwide program, but very few counties have the type of participation that Johnston County does,” said Michelle Gray, the regional youth market director for the AHA. “One hundred percent of the elementary schools participate, and many of the middle schools as well. They’re a great school system to work with.”

Croom is encouraging all county schools to participate in this year's fund-raising drive which will focus on "Eating Right, Exercise and Tobacco-Free Lifestyles." The AHA also will be contacting high schools to provide job shadowing and mentoring opportunities for those students working on senior projects.

“One of the things the American Heart Association is trying to do is teach kids at an early age that it’s important to take care of your heart and your health,” said Gray. “Through these programs they learn the importance of good nutrition, exercise and not smoking.”

Miranda and her family have been passing along that message for the past few years as active participants with the American Heart Association.

“I believe that it is important to have at least one charity under your belt that you support. We choose the American Heart Association,” said Winings.

Winings is the team captain this year for her employer’s company team at the Heart Walk. They’ve raised around $3,000 over the past four years. Each year, they have the option of walking the one or three mile route, and they always choose the latter.

“Miranda has a friend named Shauna that she told about the heart walk last year, so Shauna raised $25 and they walked the three miles together,” said Winings. “Miranda is trying to spread the word one friend at a time. She is working on her second friend for this year’s walk. Of course, the more the merrier.”

Miranda has raised around $500 for the program, but it’s the message she’s trying to get out that’s just as important.

“I think the message she is trying to get across to the kids is that you don't have to be sick or in the hospital to have a heart problem,” said Winings. “You can look healthy and have a heart problem too. She says you need to eat healthy and exercise to be able to play and have fun.”

Since 1978, Jump Rope For Heart, an educational and fund-raising program for elementary school students, has

raised over $760 million and helped generations of kids learn jump rope skills, how their hearts work and how to keep hearts healthy. Hoops for Heart is an educational and fund-raising program using basketball skills to engage and teach middle school students. For more information on the American Heart Association and its various fundraisers and programs, visit www.heart.org.

Did you know?

Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of Americans. We can reduce heart disease by promoting a healthy diet and lifestyle, so the American Heart Association has a new national goal: By 2020, to improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20 percent while reducing deaths from cardiovascular diseases and stroke by 20 percent.

For the first time, the American Heart Association has defined what it means to have ideal cardiovascular health,

identifying seven health and behavior factors that impact health and quality of life. We know even simple, small

changes can make a big difference in living a better life. Known as “Life’s Simple 7,” these steps can help add years

to your life:

• don’t smoke

• manage blood pressure

• maintain a healthy weight

• take charge of cholesterol

• engage in regular physical activity

• keep blood sugar, or glucose, at healthy levels

• eat a healthy diet

To take the My Life Check, and learn more, visit www.heart.org/mylifecheck.