LF_011719

LakeForestLeader.com LIFE & ARTS
the lake forest leader | January 17, 2019 | 21
LFHS Dance Marathon raises money for suicide prevention
Katie Copenhaver
Freelance Reporter
Lake Forest High
School students came together
to raise money for a
cause close to their hearts
during the second Annual
Dance Marathon Saturday,
Jan. 12, in the west
campus gymnasium. This
year’s charitable recipient
was the Department
of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry at Lurie Children’s
Hospital in Chicago.
Proceeds from ticket
sales and donations will
specifically go toward
the hospital’s teen suicide
prevention efforts.
Modeled after Northwestern
University’s popular
annual dance marathon,
the LFHS dance
marathon began during
the 2017-18 school year
as the idea of student
Thomas Dixon. The first
year’s proceeds went to
the Cystic Fibrosis Center
at Lurie Hospital because
that is where Dixon has
been diagnosed and treated
for the disease.
This year’s charity was
the idea of Katherine
Hodgdon, who has been
a dance marathon committee
member since the
beginning. Just as Dixon
is personally driven to
help other kids with Cystic
Fibrosis, Hodgdon is
personally driven to help
prevent teen and young
adult suicide. Her brother
passed away from suicide
two and a half years ago at
the age of 24.
Hodgdon said she has
participated in a lot of
suicide awareness activities
since that tragedy hit
her family. She pointed
out that several years ago,
there was a string of LFHS
student suicides, which included
a few high-profile
cases where the students
threw themselves in front
of oncoming trains in Lake
Forest. She’s concerned
about any of her current
classmates who are suffering
from mental illness
and contemplating suicide.
“They might not be
[participating] here today,
but we are here for them,”
she said. “I want them to
know we’re trying to help
them.”
As of press time, Monday,
Jan. 14, $5,000 was
raised.
Both Hodgdon and Dixon
are seniors this year,
so they have been making
plans to ensure the dance
marathon continues without
them next year.
“The goal this year was
to get enough underclassmen
involved to keep it
going,” said Dixon, who
explained that Lurie Hospital
will continue to be
the beneficiary, but with a
different program selected
as the focus each year.
Dixon and others successfully
recruited a number
of younger students for
the committee this year
with that purpose in mind.
The activities at the
dance marathon this year
consisted of open dance,
freeze dance, a limbo
contest, musical chairs
and hula hoop dancing.
Dance Party DJs of Wauconda
provided the music,
while fitness instructor
Esther Gutierrez-Sloan
and LFHS senior Allen
Chiu made special guest
appearances.
Gutierrez-Sloan, a Lake
Bluff resident whose
daughters are LFHS
alumnae, returned for the
second year to lead the
students in her trademark
SALSArobics dance and
Scouts show off hula-hooping skill at the second Annual Dance Marathon Saturday, Jan. 12, at Lake Forest High
School. Alex Newman/22nd Century Media.
exercise routine to Latin-
American music. She explained
that she has done
volunteer work at LFHS
for a long time, and said
she makes it either more
dancing or more athletic,
depending on the group
she is working with.
“We need to make room
for everybody,” she said
about her approach. “Inclusiveness
is necessary
to keep all of us fit.”
“What excites me most
is young adults coming
forth to help each other,”
she said regarding the
dance marathon’s purpose.
“It’s a light to the
world.”
Her sentiment echoed
the tagline from this year’s
event T-shirt, “Spreading
the light to the darkness.”
Chiu is the founder and
leader of the Yo-yo Club
at LFHS, and Student Activities
Director Ashleigh
Malec invited him to do a
yo-yo routine at the dance
marathon. Like Dixon and
Hodgdon, he is a highly
motivated teen, and he
founded his club when
he was a sophomore. He
said there is a junior in
line to take over leadership
next year. He hopes
the club will still be going
when his elementary
school brother reaches
high school so he can join.
Some of the other key
players involved with the
dance marathon included
the Promix DJ company
which donated the pipes
and drapery to partition
off the gym to create the
dance area. Malec explained
that they had been
the high school’s homecoming
dance DJ company
this year and were
very generous to provide
the equipment for this
event. Jimmy John’s and
Gerhard’s Bakery, both of
Lake Forest, and Garrett
Popcorn donated food for
the event.
There was also a raffle
with prizes from a number
of local businesses. Students
were automatically
entered into that with the
purchase of a dance marathon
ticket.
When students registered
for the dance marathon
in advance online,
the website automatically
created a donation page
for them, through which
they could solicit donations
from family and
friends. Then, the student
with the most overall donations,
which are still
open for another week or
so, will win Lollapalooza
tickets.
Michelene Tomek,
LFHS dean of students,
and Malec served as the
two faculty organizers of
the dance marathon this
year. Tomek started it last
year with Dixon, and per
Dixon, has been a passionate
supporter. She
and Malec will provide
continuity for the event
to thrive and grow, explained
Dixon.
Regarding the midwinter
timing of the dance marathon,
Malec said, “There
are not a lot of events happening
at this time of year,
so this is a fun way to get
[students] involved after
the holiday break.”