HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALISM: Celebrating a great cause

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By Anna Mondonaro, I.C. WestIOWA CITY - Twenty thousand two hundred and ninety-two.For Iowa City West students, this number represents more than money. It represents the hard work put into reaching a once impossible goal. On Jan. 20,  about 400 West High students, parents, and teachers gathered in the cafeteria to dance for five hours in West's first Mini Dance Marathon.Last Friday, these students started their hard work all over again.On Sept. 13, a new group of West students kicked off their fundraising season for this year's Mini Dance Marathon, ready to embark on the long road to their goal of $40,000. A group of teachers met at Kinnick Stadium with two families plagued by cancer to run the football from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to West High School.The families of Drew Wall, a John F. Kennedy High School student who lost his battle last year, and Dashiell Codd, also from Kennedy, who lost his battle in June, participated in the run and were honored later that night at the Kennedy-West football game. After the run, students filed into Trojan Stadium in “Beat Childhood Cancer” t-shirts while the visitor's side was also filling up with students from Cedar Rapids Kennedy.Although the battle stakes were high on the gridiron, the students were united by the green and gold t-shirts that Kennedy's students and parents also wore with pride.West began its work with Dance Marathon years ago when students at the local high school started participating in the University of Iowa's big event. Since then, the mutually beneficial relationship between West and the UIDM Program has only grown. Last year, West hosted its first Mini Dance Marathon where students raised more than $20,000 - the biggest Mini in Iowa history.West High Morale Captains and Executive Board members sold more than 1,300 of the golden “Beat Childhood Cancer” shirts last week, with a grand total of $9,476 raised for the kids.To sign up or donate to West's Mini Dance Marathon, contact Paul Breitbach (West High counselor) or Jennifer Secrist (West High teacher).Here is the link to the full photo gallery: 

http://wsspaper.com/2013/09/16/west-high-faculty-participate-in-beat-cancer-run/