 My name is Alexandra Wallace and I am a chemistry major at the University of Mississippi. Cardio vascular disease touched my life at an early age and put me on a path where my hope is to one day become a pediatric cardiologist. I lost my father to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in May of 2007. He was a healthy 45 year old man. My life was turned around and I was only in the fifth grade. When I was a little older I found myself wanting to learn as much as I could about the disease that took my father. He had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which is a genetic type of heart disease and it is also the leading cause of death in child athletes, but that wasn't the only thing I learned. I also discovered that 80% of heart disease is not genetic and is preventable. Unfortunately, there are staggering facts available today about the risk so many young people have in developing heart disease. For example, today one in three children and teens are obese, which increases their risk of developing the most abillitating disease. Since 2012, I have worked with the American Heart Association. I partnered with the Texas Heart Institute in spring of 2016 to help increase awareness of heart disease and motivate kids to take care of their hearts. With their help, I have begun to share my story and my message to elementary school students and Girl Scout troops to teach them about how to keep their hearts healthy. The Texas Heart Institute has developed a series of interactive learning materials through their program called Project Heart. The materials are available online in both English and Spanish. Project Heart was developed for elementary and middle school aged children, providing education materials that can be used with Girl Scout troops and other community organizations committed to encouraging good, healthy habits for the kids and the families they serve. Texas Heart's Cool E Project Heart Patch Program includes turnkey curriculum, worksheets, and interactive activities that are tailored for kindergarten through sixth grade. All activities are based on Project Heart, a THI award-winning program that makes learning easy and fun. The goal is to teach kids about their heart and vascular system, the importance of exercising their heart, and the importance of developing good eating habits to fuel their heart, body, and mind. The program is broken down into pieces, which are tailored for different ages. For example, kindergarten through first graders learn the more basic functions of the heart, whereas materials designed for older students provide a more in-depth explanation. My own personal platform is Project Heart, Keep Your Beat. My primary goal through my platform is to teach students how to keep their hearts healthy and the importance of doing so. I think it is imperative that students are educated at a young age that they learn healthy habits that will carry them through life. And we can all play a part in building heart health awareness. Please visit the THI website at TexasHeart.org and share the information they provide about cardiovascular health and awareness with your family and community. Their Heart Information Center and Project Heart web pages contain a vast array of useful and credible information that you can freely download. I hope you will consider joining me in supporting the Texas Heart Institute, which is a great organization whose mission I share. Together, we can work to decrease the devastating toll of cardiovascular disease.