Roxbury High School to Hold its 10th Annual Rox-THON

By Steve Sears

Roxbury High School will hold its 10th annual RoxTHON, an overnight dance marathon that raises money to fund the battle against pediatric cancers, from 7 p.m. Friday, March 10, to 7 a.m. Saturday, March 11. All monies raised go to Morristown Medical Center’s Goryeb Children’s Hospital, with 30% supporting research of pediatric cancer at the Penn State University Children’s Hospital, Four Diamonds.

Since its inception, Rox-THON has raised almost $400,000.

Mike Gottfried, a Roxbury High School Geophysical Science, Physics, and Aviation teacher, is also the coadvisor of the event, which was started in 2013 by then

Key Club Advisor, Nicole Barbato-Connelly via a suggestion from student, Rachel Synalovski. “Nicole knew that I was involved in Penn State’s THON (he took part in 2012 and 2013), and so she reached out to me to see if I had any insight, and if I’d be willing to help,” Gottfried recalls. “I jumped on the first year with her, but she was the one in continued on page 21

10th Annual Rox-THON...

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charge and got it off the ground.”

During its first three years, Rox-THON was called Mini-THON, and in 2016 became its own club. It also grew as the amount of the funds raised tripled, and in 2019 the Rox-THON name was adopted. Gottfried says, “Last year’s event raised in the ballpark of $52,000 or so. We have had a handful of years where we raised $50,000 plus, so I am hopeful that we can get back there again this year.”

Gottfried and his team start planning for the current Rox-THON two months after the end of the prior year’s event by doing some fundraising. “We close the books April 30, and then May 1, anything that we get through the following year, it goes towards the event,” he explains. “It is a full year commitment. We bring on our new leaders for the upcoming year in May, and then we meet a handful of times in May and June, just to transition our leaders and set the groundwork. In September when they arrive, we really start planning the event, deciding on a theme and putting it all together. Our leaders put in 100 to 150 hours each, our leadership team is 21 students, and then we have committees of students that also work together. I would say there are about 40 or 50 students on our committees, and then in the past, we have had upwards of 500 students participate in our event. Just as much as we are fundraising pediatric cancer, we are also working to develop strong leaders.”

All involved have worked to make RoxTHON a part of the culture at Roxbury High School. Gottfried says, “That could only be accomplished by the support of our administrators, fellow teachers, advisors, student leaders, and ultimately the buyin of our student body. Our assembly (4 weeks in advance), a spirit week, and the promotion of the event throughout the year has helped us accomplish this. Making our event go overnight was the biggest draw for students, as it took RoxTHON from ‘just another after school event that supports a great cause’ to something totally unique, providing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (or 4-times-during-ahigh-school-career opportunity).”

Rox-THON is always looking for donations. For more information, email rhsroxthon@roxbury.org.