Frank Sojak
fsojak@tribdem.com
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Rachel Wozniak, Norman Sivi and their classmates at Westmont Hilltop High School raised a whopping $8,259 during a dance marathon in May to fight two deadly diseases.
Wozniak and Sivi recently put the finishing touches on their senior projects by splitting the money evenly and issuing checks to the American Heart Association and the Four Diamonds Fund at Penn State’s Hershey Medical Center.
About 200 students danced from 7 p.m. May 7 to 7 a.m. May 8, in the event called Westy Thon 2010. The event was patterned after the famous dance marathon at Penn State called Thon, which raises money for the Four Diamonds Fund.
Wozniak is impressed with the benevolent goals of the dance marathon both at Westmont and at Penn State.
Wozniak, who danced in Westmont’s marathon last year, said that inaugural event was a huge success.
Wozniak said she will be attending Penn State in the fall and that the university’s larger version of the marathon is inspiring to her.
“I will be participating in it (Thon),” she said.
Both the Four Diamonds Fund and the American Heart Association are good organizations that have had success in their charitable work, she said.
“I wanted to do a senior project that made a difference,” Wozniak said about why she was involved with the project.
The Four Diamonds Fund is fighting childhood cancers and also provides financial help to struggling families that have a child battling cancer, she said.
The American Heart Association is renowned for working to fight the nation’s No. 1 killer, she said.
Sivi also was involved in the dance marathon because of the good it contributes to a vast number of people.
Sivi, who is planning to attend the main campus of the University of Pittsburgh in the fall, also has first-hand knowledge of those dividends.
He said his mother, Fran Sivi, the local representative of the American Heart Association, was so moved by the Westmont marathon last year that she went for a heart-health checkup. Tests revealed she had some blockage in an artery, he said.
“I’m glad it was discovered when it was,” said Sivi, who had been a member of student council last year.
Sivi said everybody had a blast at the dance.
Both Sivi and Wozniak said they couldn’t have done the project without the huge support of student council; all the students who danced and raised money for the event; their adviser, Jonathan Rutledge; and the many businesses who donated food and money to the event.
American Eagle Screen Print and Embroidery, Johnstown, which provided the T-shirts for the dance, and disc jockey Josh Miller, a Westmont graduate who provided the music, gave them substantial discounts on their services, they said.
They said their parents, Sen. John and Vanessa Wozniak and Gary and Fran Sivi, gave them plenty of support.
They said Annabeth Faucher is taking the project on next year and are encouraging everyone to support her efforts.
For their efforts, Wozniak and Sivi are the Persons of the Week.
Rutledge said Wozniak and Sivi worked extremely hard on the project.
“They kept the spirit of the first Thon alive and laid the path for next year’s Thon to be bigger and better,” he said.
The school pulled together for the event, he said. Student council worked hard with the bulk of the donations coming from pledges that the dancers received from sponsors.
Fran Sivi, who was a chaperone at the dance, said it’s nice that the school district gives students an opportunity to help the community through senior projects.
All the students at the school do a good job on their projects, she said.
“They remained excited and passionate about the projects the whole time,” she said.
