Markham Place to 'Make Some Noise' at Dance Marathon Friday

The gymnasium will be rocking Friday night as the kids boogie down at a dance marathon from 7 to 9 p.m. to benefit the . All Markham Place students are eligible to attend.

MCing the event will be Allison Gough, a melanoma survivor and dance teacher of Rumson's , and Jenni Acker, formally of Middletown's Not Your Ordinary Dancers.

Dance troupes from Kick and will perform, along with Haley Adler from Dance House in Edison and a group of students led by 9th grader .

Hogwild Entertainment will be on the 1's and 2's spinning tunes to get the kids moving, and young Rumson singer/songwriter Jack Newsome will play a set of songs from his recently released album “Songs from the Garage".

The event was conceived by , a 7th grader at Markham who is a Junior Board Member of Make Some Noise. Daneman came up with the idea after attending an event for another children's cancer organization at Rutgers University.

The cause is near and dear to little hearts in Little Silver as Lilly is not the only child who has recently fought pediatric cancer from the town. Former class president Jack McLoone is a childhood Leukemia survivor, and in the past 6 years, there have been 6 local children who attended Little Silver schools who have fought some type of cancer.

According to Make Some Noise, there are also 25 children in surrounding towns that are presently fighting cancer.

"The families and schools of the students of Little Silver have been supportive of these children both during and after their treatments," said Gerri Daneman, Lilly's mom and the vice president of Make Some Noise.

"The big hearts of Principals , , and Dennis Morolda, Markham Place Middle School, the teachers, students and their families made a significant difference while both children were received chemotherapy and surgery to fight their cancers."

During the school day Friday, students will see an assembly on childhood cancer in which Jack and Lilly will be speaking with their peers about the illness that affects 1 in 320 children before the age of 18 and the need for research money for kids cancers because there has not been a new pediatric cancer drug since 1980.

The goal is to raise $10,000 through the event, and as of Wednesday evening, $9,750 had been raised. The top fundraiser (currently Jordin O'Hara with $1,525) will receive an Xbox Kinect.

To donate, you can visit the fundraiser page or bring cash or checks to the door. Registration is $20 and includes a T-shirt (while supplies last) plus snacks and drinks.

The event is sponsored by the Student Council and Markham Place School, amd all proceeds help fund pediatric cancer research through Make Some Noise.