A Reason to Dance

Blanket making for Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

DublinThon brings community together through giving back

By Juliana Colant

Photos courtesy of Deb Papesh

High school students in Dublin can’t stop dancing – not that anyone is asking them to. The students are participating in DublinThon, an annual dance marathon fundraiser that benefits Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

DublinThon, initially started by Dublin Scioto High School Student Senate, works in conjunction with The Ohio State University’s BuckeyeThon to help raise money and awareness supporting pediatric cancer research at Nationwide Children’s. All three Dublin City School District high schools participate.

The students’ time and effort have paid off, as DublinThon has raised more than $85,000 since starting in 2013.

“Raising money doesn’t happen overnight; it starts over the summer,” says Alyssa Ritchart, a math teacher and one of two Student Senate advisers at Scioto. “Even before the school year begins, students are putting in the time, effort and energy to plan and map out how they will reach their goal.”

DublinThon, typically held in March, is a five-hour dance marathon. Each hour has a different theme, such as a silent disco or drumline performances. Miracle children –children currently battling cancer – and their families attend and share their stories during the event. At the end of the night, event organizers reveal the total amount of money raised.

For most participants, the miracle children are the biggest sources of in-spiration and motivation to surpass the fundraising goal each year. Bonnie Gamary, a family and consumer science teacher and one of the two Student Senate advisers at

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A miracle child runs through a tunnel of DublinThon participants.

Scioto when DublinThon began, says seeing those children the first year made a major impact and showed DublinThon organizers the power of the event.

“Once we got that awareness the first year, it was a given it was going to happen again because the children came and we got to hear their stories about their challenges and how important it is for that research to happen,” she says. “People come back to DublinThon year after year because they see the kids. They see what’s happening and then they become a part of the fundraising for Nationwide Children’s Hospital.”

DublinThon involves much of the community even beyond Dublin high school students. Local businesses support the event through sponsorships and donations as well as event partnerships. For example, a restaurant might dedicate a portion of sales for a night to the cause.

The support of the Dublin community has been a primary contributor to DublinThon’s immense growth and success since it began nine years ago.

“It’s not just students who know about it anymore, it’s the community,” Gamary says. “We have reached out to local philanthropy groups and have Student Senate members talk about why we do DublinThon. The adults in the community have made it a part of their mission too.”

Thanks in part to that growing community involvement, DublinThon 2020, held just a week before Ohio schools were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, raised more than $20,000.

Get What You Give

For students and adults alike, DublinThon is a reminder to slow down and reframe perspective.

“It can seem like we all have the same healthy lives but hearing the stories of the kids’ struggles … puts into perspective we are not all the same person,” says Scioto senior and Student Senate president Rachel Villalobos. “We all have different stories and lives growing up. That’s why I think it is so important to have this in high school because (there are) so many life lessons I have learned from it, and I know many other students have as well.”

While the miracle children are the focus of the event, Villalobos says high school students benefit from DublinThon as well by learning real-world skills and life lessons. She cites experiences from communicating with businesses to teaching underclassmen how to present themselves as valuable takeaways.

“I have grown so much as a leader and as a person in general,” she says. “That is one of the biggest perks of DublinThon –you get the opportunity to make these connections with people that are very well known in our area.”

Several DublinThon student leaders have also used their skills to rise to leadership roles with BuckeyeThon.

Ritchart adds that the concepts students learn from DublinThon extend beyond the classroom and into everyday life.

“Whether students are going on to higher education, the military or the workforce, … being a part of a group is something that might not come natural to people and that might have to be taught,” she says. “The fact that students get this opportunity in high school to be a part of something greater than themselves, they can take that with them to wherever their future leads them next.”

The DublinThon team eagerly anticipates coming together in person this school year after hosting the 2021 event virtually due to COVID-19.

“I am excited to have that atmosphere back,” Villalobos says. “To have that moment where everyone is dancing and we’re all sweaty, we’re all tired, but happy.”

DublinThon is expected to be held in person from 5-10 p.m. on March 5 at Dublin Scioto High School. To learn more about how to get involved, check out Dublin Scioto High School’s Twitter @SenateDshs and Instagram @dshsstudentsenate.

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