The Big Reveal!

Five thousand three hundred and thirty two dollars, along with forty two cents was raised from their Dance Marathon event earlier this month  for the University of Iowa’s Stead Family Children’s Hospital. 

Mrs. Mertel and Mrs. YOung run Rock Island’s Student Council, which helps bring Dance Marathon to life at Rocky. Student Council members do lots of major preparation into getting ready for this serious, yet very enjoyable event. Mertel wants “Students to understand what/who they are participating for.” Mertel wants her students who are involved with the event to really understand the importance of Dance Marathon. “A lot of heart goes into this event, and I think this is the biggest driving force behind it all,” Mertel explains.

Fundraising efforts included: Marathon Mondays. “Marathon Monday is an event where students bring candy, cookies, or oreo balls in exchange for donations every week. Students carry around a can that says ‘Coins for Kids’, and compete with other Student Council members to see who can raise the most money that day,” Chloe Turner explained. Some other fundraisers they do throughout the month are Community nights at local restaurants, Powderpuff Games, Crush for a Crush, and most importantly, students can “BUY A TICKET!” Young encourages.

Rocky students could even join the Student Council before Dance Marathon next year, which would allow behind the scenes planning opportunities, and going to “events that lead up to the big dance,” Young mentions. Some of the best parts of Dance Marathon are “the memories made at the dance, knowing all the work put into a really good cause,” Chloe Turner expresses. Young adds, “The sense of pride when finished! Helping kids is the whole reason we do it, and we were able to!”

But overall, the big reveal is the most exciting part about Dance Marathon. “I love the excitement leading up to the final number being thrown up,” Mertel gushes. Overall, the event fell short of their goal this year of $7,000, but still were able to raise a whopping $5,332.42 for University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital, to help with getting new technology and machines to help with research, help provide a financial support for families, and most importantly, The Kids!