NFL star's comic book helps Elmwood students learn

BLOOMDALE — As coordinator of Elmwood Elementary School's participation in the American Heart Association's Kids Heart Challenge, Christina Farabee knew that the brain and heart work together to make a body function.So, when she learned during holiday break of Washington Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner being named the winner of the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, that his mother had died of stroke complications in 2009 and that he'd started an initiative called FAST54 to raise stroke-recognition awareness, she was inspired to act.The result was the elementary students who participated in the January-through-February program each receiving a copy of a stroke-awareness comic book that Wagner had developed in 2023 while the veteran linebacker was in his second stint with the Seattle Seahawks.More than 500 copies of the comic book, also titled FAST54, were sent to the school after Farabee contacted Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, a Seattle hospital through which the books were published.Farabee sought a donation of only a few of the books to have on hand in the library."She was very kind to us," Farabee said of the Virginia Mason Franciscan Health representative with whom she spoke. "I only asked for four. She sent the first box with 50, and a couple of days after that, we received over 500, which takes care of everybody in kindergarten through fourth (grade). It's a donation that is huge. Anytime you can put material in front of a student to learn, it's a great day."The third- and fourth-graders received their books a couple of weeks ago, and the younger students were gifted theirs theirs a week later. The comic book's plot portrays Wagner as a superhero who aids in saving a woman who suffers a stroke. "It's a good book," fourth-grader Jax Gilliland said.FAST, the book notes, refers to the keys involved in recognizing stroke symptoms and assisting in a rescue: Face drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulties, time to call emergency services.Fifty-four is the jersey number Wagner has worn during his 14 seasons of playing for the Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams and Commanders and earning 10 Pro Bowl recognitions to go with six first-team All-Pro honors. Combine those credentials with having helped Seattle win Super Bowl XLVIII over the Denver Broncos, and he would seem to be destined for enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.In the meantime, this year's participants in the Kids Heart Challenge at Elmwood learned about heart health not only from Farabee, but from music teacher Beth Perez and physical education instructor Tyler Rosendale, who helped them understand how their specialties affect the heart.The students also created artwork to be used in decorating the hallways and raised more than $3,200 for the American Heart Association.Similarly, Wagner has started the Phenia Mae Fund, named for his mother, through Virginia Mason Franciscan Health."We thought this would be the perfect fit to get (the students) more involved," Farabee said of the students learning of FAST54. "No. 1, he's an athlete; and, No. 2, it's a comic book and every kid loves to read comic books. And what better way to get awareness out than through reading and comics and an NFL athlete?"Farabee commended Wagner, who has announced his intention to play a 15th season, for providing an educational service. FAST, she said, is something that children even as young as elementary age can recognize and act upon."He took a sadness and has made it his venture to teach and for us to learn," Farabee said of Wagner. "It is a big learning tool. (The students) learn by stories. And once you put an athlete's face on it, like it is here, they really want to read and they want to learn about it. It makes them want to know what he's doing or what he did. It talks about football, and, in the book, he's a superhero. So, he teaches and learns and guides people."