Friday, May 01, 2009
'Dancing with the Staff' a hit at school
Have you heard?
JoAnne Poindexter
'Have you heard?'
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At Bedford County's Body Camp Elementary School, a recent successful fundraiser required thinking creatively outside the box.
Volunteer PTA event coordinator Kelly Overstreet said she and others searched for interesting new ways to raise money for school playground equipment that is estimated to cost at least $30,000.
"I hate the normal fundraisers. We needed something different, something that sparked interest," Overstreet said of Body Camp's April 3 "Dancing with the Staff" event.
"It was like the TV show. We had the professional lighting and everything," Overstreet said.
At Body Camp, however, fifth-graders, and not professionals and celebrities, danced with school administrators and teachers in the gymnasium-turned-ballroom. The evening also included a sit-down dinner.
The PTA raised nearly $4,000 to replace playground equipment. That amount includes $1,000 from a challenge to match a $500 anonymous donation during the event.
Most of the food, dancing attire and other items needed for the event were donated, and volunteers and school personnel worked diligently to provide supporters with entertainment where "they didn't have to do abso- lutely nothing but buy tickets."
The event was a "huge success," Principal Marvin McGinnis said.
The mother of 1-year-old twins, a 3-year-old and an 11-year-old, Overstreet said most of the equipment has been at the school since she attended 25 years ago.
"My mother said it was there when she went there," she added.
Overstreet said between 250 and 300 students attend Body Camp, adding, "These kids are coming up to that school and there should be safe equipment."
Plans already have started for the 2010 Dancing with the Staff event, Overstreet said.
McGinnis and student partner Kaylynn Caldwell were the top dancers in the inaugural event.
Other winners were teacher Deborah Prowse and students Taylor Herron and Savanna Johnson, second; PTA President Barry Tosh and student Briana Monk, third; and teachers Annette Jenkins and Rose Hager and student Danielle Moore, fourth.
