The goal of the Manor Oaks School students in New Hyde Park was to raise money for the victims of the earthquake and tsunamis in Japan this spring.
So the students decided to put the fun in fundraising by holding a dance-a-thon for two hours on Friday and raised more than $2,000 doing it.
Jeanine Roach, the student council co-advisor at Manor Oaks with fellow teacher Christina Sciarotto, said the student council settled on the dance-a-thon in March,
“The students in student council wanted to raise money for Japan and we decided on a dance-a-thon,” Roach said.
Roach said the natural disasters in Japan had been addressed by teachers in the school in their classroom lessons. The student council, composed of two children from each of the grades K through 6, decided for the second year in a row to challenge their classmates to become social activists in a time of need for people in another part of the world, a lesson Roach and Sciarotto are trying to teach as advisors over the past four years.
“It’s one of the goals for student council, to show how community service works,” Roach said.
Last year, the student council raised money for victims of the earthquake in Haiti by making more than 300 heart-bead bracelets and selling them to their classmates for $1 apiece. That effort raised more than $700.
The students topped that easily with the dance-a-thon, drawing sponsors among family and friends who contributed $2,000 at an event the kids had fun dancing to the loud beat of a DJ’s tunes from 3:30 to 5:30 last Friday.
This time around the kids considered making bracelets again, along with a bake sale, selling lollipops or holding a carnival.
“We figured kids would have fun dancing,” said Victoria Bongiorno, a fifth grader and vice president of the student council. “I think it’s really good. It’s organized well and it’s looking like the kids are having a good time.”
Roach was hopeful in billing the dance-a-thon as the first annual one.
“We’re hoping to keep it a tradition,” she said.
Justine Kraus, president of the student council and sixth grader at Manor Oaks, said the students may hold a car wash next year rather than another dance-a-thon, but she’s certain the students will do something.
“We’re going to fundraise every year,” Kraus said.
In each of the last two years, the student council also spearheaded “Pull the Tab” fundraisers for the Ronald MacDonald House by collecting aluminum pull tabs from soda cans. They also participate in the weekly “Weigh-In” program sponsored by the Town of North Hempstead to encourage paper recycling, with kids collecting paper to recycled and reporting the poundage they collect to the town.
The school also conducts an annual “Toys for Tots” program during the holiday season.
On Friday, it was apparent that the student council’s effort, which included making posters, distributing flyers and making daily announcements about the upcoming dance fundraiser paid off.
The kids were clearly enjoying the chance to practice their best dance moves for a good cause.
“It makes us happy and it’s fun doing this because it’s for a good cause,” Bongiorno said.
Parents attending the event as volunteers were pleased to see their children having a good time as they were learning a valuable lesson.
“Teaching the children compassion and caring and helping those in need is important,” said Celia Olivari, whose fourth and sixth grade daughters were both participating.
Olivari also praised the teachers for taking the time to organize the event.
And Roach and Sciarotto appeared to be having a good time too, dancing along with their students to a distinctly socially conscious beat.
