A first-grader from Parma, Ohio thought she was just finishing homework. Instead, Amelia Weis, a first-grader at Dentzler Elementary School, ended up winning two tickets to the 2027 Super Bowl LXII, along with flights and a hotel stay, after completing a national heart-health education program for kids.
Amelia completed the American Heart Association's Kids Heart Challenge, a school program that teaches students hands-only CPR and stroke warning signs while encouraging them to raise funds for heart research, according to News 5 Cleveland. As part of that challenge, she completed Finn's Mission, an online assignment covering life-saving skills that takes about 15 minutes to finish. Every student who completes Finn's Mission is entered into a prize drawing, and Amelia was selected from that pool of participants.
Her mother, Sarah Weis, said Amelia treated the assignment like any other piece of schoolwork. According to the outlet's report, Sarah Weis said Amelia viewed it as homework and simply wanted to get it done. Neither of Amelia's parents were aware she would end up winning a prize for it, the station reported.
A National Program With Regional Winners
The American Heart Association and NFL awarded the trip to five students across the country who completed the Kids Heart Challenge, with winners including one student from each region of the nation. The sweepstakes structure reflects the program's national scale: participants become eligible by completing Finn's Mission, including an online Hands-Only CPR module.
It isn't only students who stand to benefit. One participating school wins a $10,000 gym makeover as part of the same drawing, funded through the American Heart Association's partnership with NFL PLAY 60 to promote physical health and emergency training. Schools earn one entry toward that equipment prize for every 18 students who complete Finn's Mission, according to the American Heart Association.
This isn't the first year the sweepstakes has sent kids to football's biggest game. Last September, the American Heart Association and NFL Foundation awarded Super Bowl LX tickets to five student winners from Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida, Texas, and Washington, alongside $10,000 gym makeovers to five participating elementary schools nationwide, the association reported in its own newsroom coverage.
A Campaign Born From Damar Hamlin's Cardiac Arrest
The NFL partnership behind Amelia's prize was inspired in part by Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin's cardiac arrest on the field in 2023. Following that emergency, the NFL Foundation and the American Heart Association worked on education efforts involving hands-only CPR, according to the association.
Ashley Abner said the partnership aims to spread education about saving lives in cardiac emergencies. Abner also described the Kids Heart Challenge as a school program involving families that covers hands-only CPR, stroke warning signs, and fundraising for heart research.
The stakes behind that mission are steep. More than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur annually in the United States, with roughly 70 percent happening in residential settings where survival rates remain around 10 percent, according to the American Heart Association. Bystander CPR performed immediately can double or triple a victim's odds of survival, the association notes — a statistic that helps explain why programs like Finn's Mission target household-level training rather than just workplace or school settings.
Scientific data published by the American Heart Association also indicates that children as young as four years old can learn and retain the essential steps for responding to a cardiac emergency, lending support to the idea of teaching hands-only CPR to elementary-age kids like Amelia.
Ohio's Broader Push for School Cardiac Safety
Amelia's win also lands amid a wave of Ohio legislation aimed at cardiac emergency readiness in schools. House Bill 47, signed into law in 2024 and effective that October, requires every public and chartered nonpublic school in Ohio to install automated external defibrillators and train staff in CPR and AED use, according to Nationwide Children's Hospital. The statute also requires schools to establish and practice quarterly cardiac emergency action plans.
That law builds on existing state requirements. Ohio has had a CPR and AED education requirement for high school students since the 2017–2018 academic year, per Columbus CPR Classes. Separately, Ohio's Lindsay's Law, enacted in 2017 and named for heart health advocate and former Miss Ohio Lindsay Davis, mandates annual sudden cardiac arrest awareness education for youth student-athletes, parents, and coaches in public and private school sports programs statewide, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
Dentzler Elementary, located on Dentzler Road in Parma, serves more than 400 students in grades K–4 as part of the Parma City School District, per Niche. The district is a school system in Cuyahoga County. Amelia isn't the only elementary student to land a Super Bowl LXII trip through the program this year — a Mesa student also won a Super Bowl LXI trip after completing the same Finn's Mission challenge in Arizona.
