The Muirlands Middle School community experienced a traumatic loss in February when a 13-year-old student suddenly suffered fatal cardiac arrest in front of the campus while walking home from school.

Now, in the boy’s honor, leaders of the La Jolla school are promoting heart-health awareness initiatives. As part of that, Muirlands will partner with the Eric Paredes Save a Life Foundation to host a free event on Saturday, May 23, that will feature stations for heart screening, speaking with a cardiologist (even if the screening is normal), learning to perform CPR and more. It will be open to the public, though the minimum age is 12.

“I might do it myself just to be sure,” said Muirlands Principal Brendan Simon.

Heart health is “not something we think about because these students are young and healthy, but it’s better safe than sorry and be proactive,” Simon said. He added that about 400 people already have signed up.

Funding for the event was partially supported by the La Jolla High School Foundation.

Simon said at the April 16 meeting of the La Jolla Cluster Association — a group of representatives of La Jolla’s five public schools in the San Diego Unified School District — that some of Muirlands’ efforts have been and will be done to promote heart-health awareness and CPR training on campus and for the broader community.

Following the Feb. 18 tragedy, “we had two UC San Diego cardiologists come and speak to our school community and we did CPR and AED [automated external defibrillator] training for all the kids in our school … and we are going to do that every single year,” Simon said.

Staff also was trained in performing CPR and using an AED, a portable device used to treat sudden cardiac arrest by analyzing the heart’s rhythm and delivering an electrical shock intended to restore normal function.

Other La Jolla Cluster news

America’s Healthiest Schools: Bird Rock Elementary School is looking to be named one of America’s Healthiest Schools for the second year in a row.

America’s Healthiest Schools is a nationwide awards program by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation that recognizes schools for “implementing best practices to support the health of staff, students and families.”

After receiving the honor last year, Bird Rock Elementary’s wellness committee recently submitted an application for designation this year under several categories, including social/emotional wellness, nutrition, community engagement, fostering resilience, tobacco cessation, healthy food choices and more, Principal Eric Banatao said.

“We have evidence that we qualify under all those [categories], so we are hopeful about the results,” which are expected in August, Banatao said.

Year-end reflections: Given that the April meeting was the Cluster Association’s last of the school year, several people in attendance reflected on the past year and the group’s accomplishments since its founding more than a decade ago.

“It truly is a collaborative organization with teachers, principals, parents as well as any other stakeholders … and it’s a unified voice for the community we can have,” said parent Katherine Williams. “The schools go from elementary to middle to high school and there is a nice streamlined process. The principals visit each other’s schools and talk here. … It’s building bridges and helping with the [students’] transitions.”

San Diego Unified board member Cody Petterson said a lot of similar organizations don’t meet as frequently as La Jolla’s, which meets quarterly during the school year. “This is the last of the clusters in my district that is still thriving,” he said.

Next meeting: The La Jolla Cluster Association next meets in the fall at Muirlands Middle School. Learn more at lajollacluster.com. ♦