Ethan DeVries, Cabinet Member and Senior

Why do you participate in Dance Marathon?

I participate in Dance Marathon because people say you can find small causes around your community that help your community but this was the first cause that I found that was bigger than myself. I wanted to do something that could impact my community when I leave so I could say I was a part of something and not just here for myself.

What was your goal for this year?

Our goal every year is to try to beat last year and last year we made like $436,000. My personal goal was $6,000.

How has this year’s marathon changed from past years?

This year we’ve been trying to get out of the ways with paper and get more in the technology realm. We tried to make things more digital because we used to do everything by paper—like we would take paper sign-up sheets and go through one by one and kind of do that by hand. But now we’re trying to get more into the digital age where it can be more efficient and we won’t be spending so much time on busy work so we can help fundraise in other ways. We’ve been adding more videos and other types of media into Dance Marathon so hopefully that kind of intrigues more people and they can actually see the impact as well because we have Riley people come in and speak, but now we’re using more forms of media to try to express their feelings and actually see the person instead of them trying to describe it—they can see photos of the kids at Riley Children’s Hospital. 

How is CHS’s Dance Marathon different from other high schools or colleges?

I have a couple other friends who do Dance Marathon from other schools and they only fundraise for Dance Marathon, but we have roughly 17 major events that supplement Dance Marathon throughout the year and that just helps us grow in our fundraising. Instead of having just one night of fundraising, we fundraise throughout the entire year for that one night. I feel like that separates us apart from other Dance Marathons.

Do you have any funny memories from past years?

All around people in Cabinet, they’re not afraid to get goofy. Like a lot of people feel like they can’t be themselves, but the people here definitely aren’t afraid to express themselves so there’s always goofiness that happens every time that we do something at Dance Marathon.

What would you say to someone wanting to participate in the future?

I have to say it’s something you have to just try. People can describe it, but it doesn’t represent the actual event. When people describe it, it kind of seems like it could be fun, but when you’re actually there to experience it, it’s completely different. Like the time might seem long, but when you’re here it feels like a flash. It’s continuous fun for six hours.

Do you have anything else you’d like to add about Dance Marathon?

I just have to say if you want to do it, just try it one year. See how it goes, and if you like it you can continue doing it. You could always regret not doing it. Like you don’t want to be leaving high school saying, “I had the chance but I never did it.”