Green Brook Middle School Students Raise $3,500.00 for St. Jude's Children's Hospital

One hundred fifty Green Brook Middle School students, under the direction of science teachers Kristine Eppinger and Kevin Smith, organized and attended the district's first Dance-A-Thon at the Middle School on Friday, March 18th from 7-10 PM. Students in grades 6-8 danced the night away, with music provided by DJ and former student Calvin Davis. In total,, with donations and DJ "shout-outs", students raised $3,500.00, which will be donated to St. Jude's Children's Hospital to help children battling disease.

In preparation for the event, Middle School Science classes watch a PBS documentary from Ken Burns, entitled Magic Bullets. The documentary is based on a book entitled The Emperor of Maladies, by Siddhartha Mukherjee, a biographical account of cancer, spanning many years. In conjunction with the reading assignment, children wrote documentary response papers and researched causes, treatments and preventions of the disease, which were compiled in a group newsletter.

The culmination of their efforts was their spring fling, to raise money for children, who due to illness, are unable to participate in activities they often take for granted. PTO and parent donations provided sweets and refreshments for the event.

"Eighth grader Giovanna DiSanto raised the most money, with donations totally $400. Sam Schwartz came in second with his donations totaling $225." says teacher Kristine Eppinger. "The Dance went so well. I hope it leads to a yearly 8th grade curriculum based event for years to come".