Spring 2023 Issue

Roxbury Students Dance (and play) the Night Away
Event Raises $54K for Pediatric Cancer
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Story by MELISSA SUMMERS
Photos by KAREN FUCITO
To say that they danced the night away is
an understatement.
More than 250 Roxbury High School students
danced, played, sang and, of course, ate till they
dropped as they raised money for pediatric
cancer at this year’s Rox-THON.
The annual event has taken on several forms
in the last few years as organizers navigated
the pandemic and its restrictions. This year,
Rox-THON returned to its true form with an
overnight dance marathon at the Succasunna
school on March 10.
Based on the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic
Dance Marathon (THON), which began in 1972,
Rox-THON is designed to keep participants
awake and on their feet, according to Roxbury
High School teacher and Rox-THON co-advisor
Mike Gottfried.
As a Penn State alumnus fresh from several
years of dancing at the university, Gottfried
was approached in October 2013 to help with
Roxbury High School Key Club’s first Mini-THON
in 2014.
(Mini-THONs are modeled after the Penn
State THON, which raises money for Four
Diamonds, a Penn State-based charity. Proceeds
go towards helping Pennsylvania families
impacted by childhood cancer, raising awareness
and funding research.)
“Key Club put on the event until 2016 when
Mini-THON became its own club,” Gottfried
explained. After a few years, he said, it made
sense for the school to establish a locally
run, more independent event. In 2019, they
transitioned from Mini-THON to Rox-THON.
“The school district felt it would be a good
opportunity to donate the majority of our
money to a local cause, as opposed to having all
of the money go to the Penn State organization,”
said Eisenhower Middle School teacher and
Rox-THON co-advisor Margery Richman. “Now
we donate to [Morristown Medical Center’s]
Goryeb Children’s Hospital and specifically the
[Valerie Fund Center].”
The Valerie Fund provides comprehensive care
to children with cancer and blood disorders and
their families. Valerie Fund Centers are located
in eight pediatric hospitals in New Jersey, New
York and metro Philadelphia, including the
center in Morristown.
“Proceeds are now split with 30 percent going
to Penn State Children’s Hospital and 70 percent
going to Goryeb. It has brought the cause closer
to home,” said Gottfried. “Working with local
patients and families has been very beneficial
for us and for them.”
The partnership also allows students to visit
LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Spring 2023
the Morristown facilities and
speak to the hospital staff. “They
hear where the money is going so
it becomes a little more tangible
for them,” Gottfried said.
Rox-THON has a leadership
structure consisting of
committees, captains and
directors. Roxbury senior Diya
Narayan, 18, of Ledgewood, began
as a freshman on the hospitality
committee. Sophomore year she was a captain
and this year she is Rox-THON’s president.
She was first introduced to THON in 2019
when eighth graders from Eisenhower Middle
School were invited to attend. “I thought high
school would be scary,” she recalled. “But all
these people were standing for the kids who
can’t. They stay 12 hours on their feet and are
donating their time and money. It’s something
so worthy, and I needed to be part of this
movement.”
Diya said she is honored to be part of a
dedicated group of students and proud of how
much they have accomplished. “After a long
school day, some people just go home and nap,
but these people start right at 2:30 p.m. We
make decorations, we make calls. It’s inspiring.”
Gottfried said building leadership skills is a
big part of the organization. “Our leaders have
done more and more each year,” he said. “We’ve
learned how to delegate that work to them over
time. We say, ‘This is what you need to do, go do
it.’ And then we provide the support needed to
help them get there. It’s incredible to see how
much more work is being done and how much
less falls on us, which is fantastic.”
“It gives a lot of autonomy to the students,
allows them to make a lot of decisions and it’s
an opportunity to have these life skills that high
schoolers normally don’t,” Richman added.
The students call businesses, ask for money
and donations and write thank-you notes—
experiences that some college students and
adults are lacking. “Our alumni talk about the
skills that they learn being a leader here. They
are going to take those and apply them down
the road,” said Gottfried.
The pandemic put the brakes on the
overnight event for a few years, but the
students were determined to keep it going.
Junior Tyler Benedetto, 17, of Succasunna, was
in eighth grade in 2020 when he was asked to
DJ the event. “It was right as COVID happened,
everything shut down and the in-person event
got canceled,” he recalled. “A month later, I was
brought on as a captain and part of planning the
2020 virtual event.”
Rox-THON was streamed entirely via YouTube
that year and, in 2021, it was held outdoors. “We
were on the track and the back of Roxbury High
School,” Diya said. “There were games, dancing.
It was not as big as if it was held inside, but it
shows how hardworking THON is to be able to
keep it going.”
In 2022, the students were back inside for a
six-hour event, even though the mask mandate
wasn’t lifted until the Monday before the event,
according to Gottfried.
This year, with a return to the 12-hour
overnight model, those planning Rox-THON
were prepared. “We had a few DJs, a bounce
house and the entertainment committee
planned both organized and ‘backyard’ games,”
Tyler said. “It’s all to keep everyone moving and
on their feet. Most activities were in the gym,
and we had the food in the cafeteria.”
Diya is grateful for the donation of food that
kept the teens’ stomachs full. “We had pizza,
Cliff’s ice cream, bagels and the hospitality
committee made pancakes.”
And cue the ABBA soundtrack, she added.
“Our theme this year was disco. I was so
excited.” The decorations and T-shirts, created
by the morale team, also fit the theme.
Senior Jenna Waldron, 18, of Kenvil, was the
director of morale. She’d been involved in the
event since she was a freshman, following two
older siblings who were also part of Rox-THON.
One of the committee’s most important roles
was designing an original line dance.
“We created a three-minute-long dance that
we did every hour on the hour during the event,”
she said. “Every year we pick songs and Tyler, our
resident DJ, mixes the songs. We choreographed
it over a few meetings and then learned it and
then taught it to everyone at the event.”
Another big part of the night was the Family
Hour where guest speakers were welcomed to
share their stories. “It was to remind everyone
why we’re doing what we’re doing,” Jenna said.
This year featured a representative from
Surviving Hope, a Mount Arlington-based
charity that provides financial support to
families impacted by a sudden medical crisis
and volunteers to help with household needs,
according to Jenna.
Ledgewood freshman Emily Rowe, 15, had
personal reasons for being a part of Rox-THON.