A Chandler Unified School District student is among four Arizona winners selected to serve as volunteer local youth heart ambassadors for the 2023-24 school year.

Beau Nez, a second-grader at Shumway Leadership Academy, is a congenital heart defect survivor born with a single ventricle heart with tricuspid atresia. Nez, age 7, also has an atrial septal defect and a ventricular septal defect.

The other winners include two students from Phoenix and one from Flagstaff. The four selected students will work closely with the American Heart Association’s in-school programs,

The Kids Heart Challenge and American Heart Challenge encourage children to establish healthy habits that improve mental and physical well-being.

The American Heart Association accepted nominations from young people who have been affected by heart disease or stroke either through a personal diagnosis, diagnosis of a loved one or have made a personal lifestyle change, to serve in the youth heart ambassador role.

The youth heart ambassadors serve a one-year commitment as a volunteer of the American Heart Association assisting the organization to be a relentless force for healthier lives for all.

The position gives youth a voice to encourage, advocate and underscore the need to raise critical funding as they share the impact cardiovascular disease has had on their life.

Rooted in physical activity, the two challenges are service-learning programs that teach students how to improve their overall health while doing good for the health of others.

Through interactive curricula and various online challenges, participating students get active and have fun while raising funds and awareness for congenital heart defects, nutrition security, CPR training, mental well-being and more.

These collective efforts help further the American Heart Association’s mission to be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives.

Schools interested in participating in either Kids Heart Challenge or the American Heart Challenge receive expanded curriculum resources for both classrooms and in-home learning environments.

School staff can register now for the 2024-25 school year. To learn more about school programs, visit heart.org/getstarted. More information can be found online at  heart.org/youthambassadors.

We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org