Person of the Week: Westmont senior leads dance event to raise money for charities Taking steps to help in the community is what seniors
at Westmont Hilltop High School do for their senior projects. And Zach Evans and his classmates literally did just that during a 12-hour dance marathon last month that raised $14,000 for charity. The event was held from 7 p.m. April 9 until 7 a.m. April 10 in the school’s gymnasium. A total of 205 students from the school and some of their friends raised money from friends and family plus paid a registration fee to dance. Businesses also donated to the cause. Evans, who spearheaded the event, said the money will be split evenly between the Four Diamonds Fund, a charity that fights childhood cancer, and the American Heart Association. “I’m proud of everybody who helped and everybody who lasted the entire 12 hours,” Evans said. “People were exhausted, but they kept going.” Evans, a member of student council, said the event, called WestyTHON, could not have taken place&8200without student council’s help. Council did a great job with all phases of the event, he said. Student council adviser Jonathan Rutledge was a tremendous help as a liaison between both charities, Evans said, and Fran Sivi, a regional representative of the Heart Association and the mother of a student council member, was a big help in planning and promoting the event. Every senior has to complete a project that benefits the community or the school. Evans said he was thinking about a project to do when one of his friends, John Livingston, mentioned that his sister, Julia, is involved with Penn State’s annual dance marathon that raises money for the Four Diamonds Fund at the university’s Hershey Medical Center. Another friend, Norman Sivi, suggested the Heart Association, where his mother is a regional representative. Evans liked both ideas. Student council decided to help with its president, Brad Schroeder, leading council’s effort, Evans said. Julie Mercik, another member of student council, designed the T-shirts that the dancers wore. Evans said&8200they gave students a couple of incentives to raise money, including awarding a laptop computer to the student raising the most. Student council paid for the computer. “We did not need the incentives,” he said. “They just wanted to do it out of the kindness of their hearts. That’s the way students are at school.” Evans is thankful for all the people who donated to individual students and businesses that contributed. For his efforts, Evans is the Person of the Week. Rutledge said he is proud of Evans, student council, and all the students and community for supporting the event. “I hope we can build on what he (Evans) did,” he said. Fran Sivi said the students under Evans’ leadership did an amazing job. “They raised a phenomenal amount of money,” she said. “I’m proud of everyone who supported the event.” Tribune-Democrat editors select a Person of the Week from nominations made by readers. To nominate someone, call 532-5058, 24 hours a day. Zach Evans, a senior at Westmont Hilltop High School, raised $14,000 for charity by spearheading a 12-hour dance marathon last month as part of his senior project. John Rucosky/The Tribune-Democrat (Click for larger image) More from the Local News section