Riley Laferriere

Juniors Allison “Allie” Wolf and Brinn Shaller sell tickets for a basketball tailgate to support Riley Children’s Hospital. Dance Marathon will take place on Feb. 26 from 5 to 9 p.m in the freshman cafeteria.

Cabinet members will host Dance Marathon, it’s annual fundraising event, on Feb. 26. The event which will occur in the freshmen cafeteria, will begin at 5 p.m and end at 9 p.m.  

Cabinet members are currently preparing this event to return back to normal amid the pandemic. Cabinet sponsor Sarah Wolff said there are many changes this year to the event. One of those changes is that Dance Marathon will shorter.

Wolff said, “Based on our feedback from last year, our students like the four-hour event versus the six-hour event. They didn’t feel like they lost anything by doing it two hours shorter. We were just spending longer times doing things and we kind of consolidated and removed some things that (we) weren’t getting much good student feedback about.”

Matt Cardinal, Cabinet member and sophomore, detailed some other differences to this year’s event versus last year’s. 

“To start off, instead of having (the event) on the football field, we’ll be back in our normal location, inside the school,” he said “Also, as of right now, masks will not be required (as of press deadline). It has also been scheduled back to its normal time this year, late February, as opposed to the middle of May like last year. Things can always change, but those are the main differences people will see as of right now.”

Speaker of the House Julia Muller, said anyone is welcome to attend, with some stipulations. 

“You are able to attend Dance Marathon without raising any money, but the minimum amount required to receive a dancer shirt is $120. This has not changed in a couple of years,” Muller said.

Throughout the years Cabinet members have used various fundraising tactics. Specifically, Wolff said Covid-19 has changed fundraising for Cabinet. 

“I’d say the number-one change I’ve seen is Venmo,” she said. “We’re still doing a lot of the things we have been doing. A lot of our consignment has been online. We’ve gone to more electronic platforms rather than traditional platforms. We started a Venmo account a couple years ago and now since Covid-19 I would say that’s our primary fundraising besides our online link that (participants) send to (their) relatives and stuff. I think kids are still being innovative with how they’re fundraising but I think that way is causing them to fundraise more.” 

Finally, due to the considerable changes between last year’s event and this year’s,  Cardinal urged students to show out.

He said, “Last year was my first year with Dance Marathon. Everything about school last year was different, including Dance Marathon. With that being said, this year we are working our hardest to return as much about it as we can to normal. If last year was your first with Dance Marathon like it was mine, and you are debating whether or not to come to this year’s, I strongly suggest you give it another chance.”