Walpole’s Student Council is known for trying to put a new twist on charity events for the high school. Whether it is collecting coats for the homeless in hopes of meeting Ed Sheeran or a “Girl’s Night Out” around prom for the Fairy Godmother project , StuCo is constantly looking for innovative ways to earn money for charities.
Student Council’s second annual Pink Dance was no exception to their creative ideas. On September 28, StuCo arrived ready to raise money for the annual American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk. They hoped to raise over $500 to donate to the Breast Cancer Walk and have a great night at the same time. They decorated the halls with streamers, breast cancer ribbons, and twinkling strings of lights. Thus, StuCo turned the school into a place a student would actually want to spend a Saturday night at. The group also thanked those who had helped with the fundraising by lining the walls by the teacher’s room with posters signed by the students who contributed to the fundraiser.
Inside the cafeteria, StuCo continued to keep the theme of pink and breast cancer awareness going with their decorating prowess. The cafeteria was gussied up similarly to the hallway outside, turning it into an explosion of pink decorations. Then, they lived up to their promise of a fun filled night by adding in DJ Blaque to play music, leaving plenty of room to dance, and as many desserts and cotton candy as a person could eat.
When 7:00 pm rolled around, students bedecked in pink clothes filled Walpole High School’s cafeteria. Outfits ranged from pink shirts to full pink ensembles, where everything from socks to hats were pink. Some students even showed up with pink hair and pink lines drawn under their eyes. However, no matter how much or how little pink the students wore, they were all there in support of the same cause: increasing awareness of breast cancer. Each payed their $10 for the ticket, while some donated additional money, and went off to have a fun night knowing they had helped out with the cause.
Nonetheless, despite all the advertising and work StuCo put into the dance, it had a small turnout this year. About 140 students came to support StuCo’s fundraiser and the amount of money raised was much smaller than the $500 StuCo hoped to earn at the dance.
Sophomore Molly Rockwood was frustrated by how few people showed up at the dance on Saturday night. “It was a fun event to raise money for breast cancer,” said Rockwood, “I think it’s sad that not as many people as we would have liked people showed up.”
For those who did attend, Saturday night was filled with pink-filled fun. Groups of people crowded the dance floor, enjoying the music and going crazy. DJ Blaque played popular hits all night, giving the students plenty of opportunities to bust out their best moves. Eventually, the crowds of people converged into one big group, dancing together in a huge, pink mob.
This group of students united themselves on the dance floor and for Breast Cancer research. The money, although less than StuCo hoped, was donated to the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk.
