Volume 2, Issue 6 January 2010

The mission of The UNC Dance Marathon is to unite the University, community and state in fostering emotional
and financial support that improves the quality of life for the patients, families and staff of N.C. Children’s Hospital.

Upcoming
“A determined soul will do more with
Events a rusty monkey wrench than a loafer
Jan. 18-21: Moraler and will accomplish with all the tools in a
Volunteer Recruitment
Week
machine shop. ”
Sign up to keep danc- -- Robert Hughes, Australian art critic and author
ers on their feet or
to help with logistics.
Online and in the Pit.
Jan. 20: Craig Woolard What’s Up This Month?
Band Tacky Sweater...Sprint
Jan. 27: Percentage Thirty runners raced in their Christmas Tackiest for a
signed basketball.
Night at Kildaire’s Molly Sutherland
See Page 2
Join us for a bar night
in collaboration with For the Kids, For the Dancers Kid Co-Captain — December 2010
Habitat and Relay. 24 hours of dancing and entertainment could not hap-
pen without hundreds of moralers and volunteers.
How to survive UNC-DM 2011:
Jan. 29: Smith Center
See Page 3 1. Don’t wear jeans. Sweat/yoga pants feel
Children’s Challenge
Bring $1 to the N.C. Battle for the Stage much better after 24 hours of dancing.
State game at 2 p.m. Three local bands competed for the chance to per- 2. Don’t forget a toothbrush and tooth-
for the kids form at the marathon in February. paste--brushing your teeth midway through
See Page 4 the night is a really refreshing way to stay
Spotlight: Healthy Steps awake!
3. Bring several changes of comfy shoes;
Just as diaries and An early childhood education specialist answers the
your feet will thank you if you change it up.
books are passed non-medical questions parents have about their chil-
down through gen- dren.
erations in other See Page 5
cultures, so is song
and dance in the
Dodge, Duck, Dip and Dive For the Kids Story
aboriginal culture. Get your team ready for the 2011 Dodgeball tourna-
Marcos is a 10-year-old Hispanic boy who was
Aboriginal people ment.
have clans, which See Page 6 diagnosed with leukemia. He was unable
are like kinship or to leave the hospital for weeks. His mother
family groups. It is Presence in the Hospital was employed as a nursing aid in a hospital in
an honor for a group
another county. His father was unemployed
to be bestowed with We continued to host Parents’ Night Out and
a dance that then and cared for two other children at home. His
Thursday night Pizza. The theme of the De-
becomes their per- mother, who was still recuperating from a re-
manent possession.
cember social was Disney. We made crowns
cent kidney removal, was very anxious to work
A ceremony that is and played corn hole with our brand new UNC-
passed down within since she carried the insurance for her family.
DM corn hole set.
a family group is The family owned a mobile home but would
referred to as a Anyone interested in reading or playing DDR
have lost it if they could not meet their finan-
Joonba (from ehow. with children in the children’s clinic wait-
cial obligations. The For the Kids Fund helped
com). ing room should contact Gracie Beard at
to pay their phone bill and their electricity bill.
_gbeard@email.unc.edu.
January Newsletter
Runners dressed in their tackiest holiday gear bolted down six cookies before starting the 1 kilometer race around campus.
Race Draws 30 runners dressed in
their holiday tackiest
Thirty runners came dressed in their tackiest
Christmas attire to participate in the second Tacky
Holiday Sprint hosted by The UNC Dance Marathon
and the Carolina Athletic Association on Thursday,
Dec. 2.
This year’s race had three times as many competi-
tors as last year’s race, and runners had to eat five
cookies before they could begin the 1 kilometer
race.
Galen Cook, Campus Fundraising Chair, said her
committee looked for something new to add to the
race and got the idea of adding the cookie element
from N.C. State University’s Krispy Kreme Challenge.
“[We] thought cookies would be a cute way to stay
with the Tacky Holiday theme,” she wrote in an e-
mail.
CAA President Brandon Finch participated in the
sprint and said that eating cookies and then running
the race was the worst decision he’s made in a long
time.
“My salivary glands refused to work after I started
eating the cookies and was stuck on the start line for
a good 3 minutes,” he wrote in an e-mail. “Luckily
my gazelle-like speed allowed me to not finish last,
although that’s not what the race was about.”
Emily Lucas
Victoria Cook
Fulton Byrne, a member of the UNC-DM Morale
Committee, won the race despite not preparing
much.
“I had a big meal right before it,” he said. “But
thankfully it was only a 1K.”
Byrne walked away with a basketball signed by the
members of the 2009 NCAA Championship UNC-CH
basketball team, which he said he planned to give to
his father for Christmas.
Freshman Chester Bissell said he came out to the
race to help him meet more people from the Morale
Committee, of which he is a member, and his dance
team. He also said he kept his chances of winning
realistic.
“I’m going to assume that there are a few people
here from the cross country team,” he said.
Cook said that collaborating with the CAA last year
proved successful and furthered the success of this
year’s race.
“We both have a large presence on campus, and
in collaborating we can reach a large portion of the
student body,” she said. “It just makes sense to keep
working together.”
Finch added, “I think the race has the potential to
become even bigger next year.”
January Newsletter

Moralers and Volunteers bring

energy and organization
Emily Tracy

Want to be a part of the 2011 UNC Dance Marathon,

but missed out on signing up to Dance? No worries!
UNC-DM is looking for energetic students who want
to help make a difference in the lives of children.
January 18-22 is Moraler/Volunteer Recruitment
Week for the UNC Dance Marathon. Students are en-
couraged to get involved with Dance Marathon on Feb-
ruary 18-19 by signing up for a 7 hour Moraler shift or a
3 hour volunteer shift.
Moralers arrive to their shift dressed in the desig-
nated theme, and are responsible for keeping dancers
energized and enthused throughout the marathon. Mo-
ralers must raise at least $60.
Volunteers help with the logistics of the marathon,
and must raise $10. Kelsey Farson
We’ll be back in the Pit in full force ready to talk to
you about how you can get involved! Sign up this week
only at www.uncmarathon.org or in the Pit!
Here are the testimonies of a moraler and a volun-
teer from last year.

Behind the dancers and supporting the committee

members, there are two other groups of people that
make UNC-Dance Marathon possible: the volunteers
and the moralers.
Moralers work seven-hour shifts and volunteers work
three-hour shifts. Moralers and volunteers can work
for as many shifts as they want throughout the 24-hour Name # 2
event. Moralers work with the dancer teams and help
bring fresh faces and energy to the marathon, while age students to become involved in a UNC-DM commit-
volunteers work with specific details of the Marathon tee. For the 2011 UNC-DM, Davis is on the Operations
like passing out food and monitoring exits. Committee. Farson plans to morale again for one or
Senior Charlie Davis said that he chose to volunteer two shifts.
for two years because he likes helping with the logis- For future volunteers, Davis said to “give everything
tics of the Marathon. you got because you are only there for three hours.”
“It is such a big event that there is no way it could “[The dancers] are so thankful for our help and I am
get done without help from the volunteers,” Davis said. honored to be a part of the organization,” Davis said.
Junior Kelsey Farson worked her first morale shift Farson said that she encourages this year’s moralers
in the 2010 marathon in the 6 a.m to 1 p.m. shift, the to bring lots of energy, wear costumes and meet as
third shift of the marathon. many people as possible.
“That’s probably the worst time [for the dancers],”
Farson said. “Everyone was exhausted and ready to sit
down, but it was a great feeling to be able to encour-
age those who were about to collapse.”
Farson said she got involved because she wanted to
support not only the kids, but also the dancers.
One year being a moraler or a volunteer can encour-
January Newsletter
3 Local Bands compete for A
chance to perform
Three local bands battled for a chance to play at
The UNC Dance Marathon this February at Franklin
Street’s The Library. Musicians packed the stage to
perform at the Battle of the Bands event Dec. 3, and
students flooded the floor to cheer them on.
UNC-DM’s entertainment committee created a
Facebook event calling for musicians who hoped to
compete to play at the marathon. From there, the
committee chose the three best bands: the Screaming
Crayons, Blane Clark, and Eric and the DiMarzios.
Entertainment Committee Chair Alice Miller said
she was pleased with the Battle of the Bands event.
“The event went really well!” she said. “We had
such a great turn out and people really seemed to
enjoy themselves.”
After each of the three performers finished their
short sets, the audience members cast ballots to
voice their votes. Votes could be written on money
to make the vote worth even more and to contribute
money to UNC-DM.
“People did actually vote on money, which was
awesome as it was a creative addition to the whole
process and also functioned as a great fundraiser,”
Miller said.
The night got off to an energetic start with band
The Screaming Crayons. Armed with an infectious
enthusiasm and variety of music, the band had the
crowd noding to the music. The band displayed an in-
teresting mix of modern and experimental tracks with
strong guitar riffs, but drew the best crowd participa-
tion with a cover of a Cee-Lo Green song.
While the Screaming Crayons filled the stage with
their many members and numerous instruments,
Blane Clark showed up with just his voice and his gui-
tar. Signaling a more mellow transition to the night,
he opened with a cover of Old Crow Medicine Show’s
popular tune “Wagon Wheel.” His gritty voice gave
an interesting spin to well-known tracks, especially
when he also covered Cee-Lo Green’s hit.
Eric and the DiMarzios offered a signature North
Carolina sound with their blend of southern-influ-
enced folk. They were greeted by loud cheers as they
took to the stage, and instruments such as the fiddle
and harmonica added a bluegrass feel.
The crowd was clearly a fan of the talent, clapping
along with enthusiastic cheers. In the spirit of the
battle, the band also burst into “Wagon Wheel,” this
Margot Pien
Ashlyn Still
The Screaming Crayons, a five-piece local band, stirred up the
crowd with a cover of Cee-Lo Green.
time giving a more traditional take. The rest of their
songs included mainly original material, in addition to
a Mumford and Sons cover.
UNC Senior Eric DiMarzio, lead singer for his simi-
larly titled band, said that the crowd’s enthusiasm
turned the show into an unforgettable experience.
“The best part of the night for us was definitely the
crowd,” he said. “We fed off of their energy so much
every single song felt transformed. It was really in-
credible.”
After much anticipation from the crowd and per-
formers alike, the votes were counted and the win-
ner was announced. Eric and the DiMarzios are set to
grace the stage at UNC-DM’s February marathon.
The band is comprised of mainly UNC students (in
addition to DiMarzio), including sophomores Chris
Wright and Will Wright and freshman Rushi Gajjar.
Will Lutter, who hopes soon to enter a graduate de-
gree program at UNC, rounds out the lineup.
DiMarzio said that while he has never been involved
in UNC-DM before, he and his band are excited to take
to the stage during the 24-hour event. He said he is
most looking forward to playing for the high energy
crowd that UNC-DM attracts.
Miller said she was pleased with the results and ex-
cited about the band’s upcoming role at the mara-
thon.
“They are such a lively and good band, I know the
dancers are going to love their performance during
the marathon,” she said.
January Newsletter

Specialist in Children’s Clinic

answers parents’ questions Olivia Barrow

Every new parent faces the same questions about

their new child: Is my baby doing as well as the other
kids? Should my baby be talking yet? Should my baby
be toilet-trained yet? Why doesn’t my two-year-old
get along with my three-year-old?
Through a program called Healthy Steps for Young
Children, a specialist in the general outpatient pe-
diatric clinic at N.C. Children’s Hospital meets with
families and doctors to answer those questions.
The nationwide program was started about 15 years
ago at UNC Hospitals when Karen Wysocki took on the
position to help support families and doctors on non-
medical developmental issues.
“The value of it was so obvious and evident right
from the start,” said Michael Steiner, medical direc-
tor of the children’s clinics. “Despite difficulty fund-
ing it, it has been seen as essential by everyone in the
clinic.”
The UNC Dance Marathon is in the second year of
fully funding Wysocki’s position. She meets with fami-
lies before, after or while the doctor sees the family
to answer any questions that the parents might have,
but also to help educate the doctors, who are all com-
pleting their residencies in the clinic.
“By having a non-physician, it brings a different
perspective,” Wysocki said. “My background is early
childhood education.”
Wysocki also prepares handouts for doctors to give
to families for each routine check-up that cover any
questions parents might have about their child’s
growth, sleeping, eating and recommended vaccines
at each age from one month to three years.
“It’s the real common sense questions that parents
have that our learners are not experienced with,”
said Wally Brown, an attending doctor in the clinic.
“This gives the parents something to walk home with.
You can’t cover all this is the clinic.”
Wysocki tries to see each patient at least once be-
tween one month and three years old, and often sees
families more often.
“One of the reasons Healthy Steps is really impor-
tant here is this is a population that would be less
likely to go to the library or get on the internet,”
Wysocki said. “Families love it ­ — having someone
come in and address the issues that are really causing
them challenges on a daily basis.”
One of Wysocki’s more recent responsibilities is co-
ordinating volunteers who participate in the Reach
Out and Read program, which encourages early lit-
eracy. The student committees that plan UNC-DM
volunteer regularly through year, and individuals can
come any time. The volunteers work on their own
or in pairs reading to children, coloring with them or
supervising a Dance Dance Revolution station.
“The kids love it,” Wysocki said. “We’re getting re-
ally positive feedback on that.”

Get Better from Big Ben

Nine UNC-DM representatives held a two-
hour mini-marathon after school for about
65 students at Mary Scroggs Elementary
Dec. 10. After learning about UNC-DM, the
5- to 10-year-olds rotated through sections
where they made world-travel themed
cards for patients at N.C. Children’s Hospi-
tal, raced scooters, danced
and played tag and basketball.
Katie Krantz
January Newsletter

UNC-DM to host Dodgeball Tournament

Emily Evans
Have good aim? What about a group of friends not
afraid to work up a little sweat? Interested in combin-
ing the two to help benefit the kids at N.C. Children’s
Hospital (and maybe even win a prize)? If so, sign up for
the annual UNC Dance Marathon Dodgeball tournament
on Feb. 4 at 5 p.m.
The tournament, held in Fetzer Gym room A, is typi-
cally one of the marathon’s most popular fundraisers,
said Operations Committee Chair Kayla Fulp.
“It was successful last year, but this year we hope to
have even more teams participate,” she said. “Partici-
pants can expect a fun and exciting evening that also
benefits the patients and families of N.C. Children’s
Hospital.”
Though the exact prizes, and how signups will be
held, have yet to be determined, Fulp said the event
will be similar in organization to the 2010 tournament.
The tournament will be single-elimination, Fulp said.
More information will be available after classes begin
and planning is underway—until then, grab some boun-
cy balls and a group of friends and start practicing.

Marvels at Marbles
Members of the Overall Commit-
tee and Morale committee race
cars down a slide with several
kid co-captains at Marbles Kids
Musesum in Raleigh, Dec. 4. Five
kid co-captains and their families
came to the social, which was
a prize for the first semester
of the inter-committee chal-
lenge, referred to as “Frequent
Flier Miles,” in which committees
compete to be the most actively
involved in UNC-DM events. It was
designed to connect committee
members to the cause so they can
see what they work for all year.
Molly Sutherland

NEXT ISSUE Grant Spotlight: Children’s Lung and

Asthma Center, Pediatric Endocrinology
Kid Co-Captain Profiles

* If you have any questions, comments or concerns contact 2011

Publicity Chair Rebecca Brenner at rbrenner@email.unc.edu