WHS Dance-A-Thon 2012: Dance Until the World Ends

My name is Krysta Huber, and I am a senior at , and the current Student Government President. The WHS Student Government is busily planning its third annual Dance-A-Thon which will take place on Friday, March 23, from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m.

When people hear the word Dance-A-Thon, the image that usually comes to mind is a competition to see who will be the last one standing on the dance floor. But our Dance-A-Thon moves to a slightly different beat. Students form teams of 5-8, and work together to fundraise for the year's state charity.

Participants come to the Dance-A-Thon dressed in unique costumes, hoping to receive a prize for their creativity and spirit. Unlike a traditional Dance-A-Thon, you are allowed to step off the dance floor to enjoy food that has been generously donated by Westfield merchants, take pictures with your teammates at the photo station, and scope out the prizes that you could win by the end of the night.  

The real competition of the WHS Dance-A-Thon is to see who can raise the most money for the state charity, Good Grief. Good Grief is a center located in Morristown that helps children and teens to cope with loss. In light of recent losses within the WHS community, Good Grief is charity that hits especially close to home, and it is for this reason that we are strongly urging students to participate.

Students who collect funds to donate to Good Grief are awarded with an array of prizes at the Dance-A-Thon, and this year, we have quite a selection. Thanks to the help of Student Government representatives, the WHS PTSO, and generous community members, we have been able to secure items such as Beats by Dr. Dre Solo Headphones, a Michael Kors watch, an iPod Touch, and NJ Devils tickets.

We have many gift cards up for grabs to places like Swirl Whirl, Exxon, iTunes, and Starbucks. I would like to thank everyone who donated prizes for the event. In addition to prize donations, we have also created some of our own prizes: students can win access to a teacher's parking spot for one week, have access to an entire season of high school sports games for free, or have the opportunity to hand-pick their prom table.

To spread the word about these wonderful prizes, all Student Government representatives have a profile picture on Facebook that lists the items. We also decorated a display case in the cafeteria hallway at WHS, filling it with the prizes we've received. We are thrilled that we have so many great prizes this year, and hope that they will foster a strong turnout among the student body.

I am looking forward to another successful Dance-A-Thon and can't wait to see how much money we raise for a very worth cause. We have several activities planned throughout the night, such as traditional dance games like Coke and Pepsi, and salsa lessons with WHS trainer Chris Flores.

If you have not yet picked up a Dance-A-Thon packet, or know that your child hasn't put a team together, they are available in the WHS main office or next to the display case.