student council president and event coordinator

Ten-year-old Luke Torres hopped on to the stage, and the Gahanna Lincoln High School students finally were able to put a face to their cause.

His infectious smile and larger-than-life personality would never give it away, but Torres was diagnosed with leukemia in 2010. He has been to Ohio State’s dance marathon the past two years, but Torres was honored to accept an invitation to Gahanna’s.

He was the students’ inspiration, and they were ready to dance.

“He took a nap this afternoon so he could be here for the entire time because he was really excited,” said Rachel Torres, Luke’s mom. “Just like with BuckeyeThon, he says, ‘They need me there to see who they’re dancing for.’”More than 200 Gahanna Lincoln students crowded into the school’s gym and hallways last night for their first-ever GahannaThon.

The five-hour dance marathon raised $8,067 for the hematology/oncology unit at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, exceeding the $8,000 goal.

The students chose to have the fundraiser, in partnership with Ohio State University’s BuckeyeThon, instead of their normal winter homecoming dance this year.

“One of student council’s big missions this year was looking for a way to bring all the students together for a cause,” said Chris Wagner, the student council adviser. “They also wanted to do something different for the winter formal that wasn’t just a dance.”

Jordan Oberndorfer, BuckeyeThon’s director of high-school dance marathons, said high-school involvement in the cause has really taken off, with four high-school dance marathons in 2012 and six already scheduled this year.

But the Lincoln students brought something special to GahannaThon through their student-group involvement and friendly rivalry with Pickerington over which school could raise the most money, she said.

Brooke Motsinger, student council president and event coordinator, said more than half of the school’s student groups did an activity or performance during the student-organized event.

Key Club had a cake walk, yearbook had a photo booth and Interact Club had a game room, among other group activities. The performances included the marching band and chorale and a dance number by the football team.“One thing we wanted to do was incorporate all the different clubs in our school so they feel like they’re part of it and take ownership,” Motsinger said.

“The goal was to make students feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves.”

Students raised the money through a $15 attendance fee, by collecting money at school basketball games, by holding a fundraising competition among home rooms and with donations from relatives and community members.

For Luke, this was his first invitation to a high-school dance marathon. The Lincoln students invited him because they were touched to hear his story and those of other pediatric cancer patients that were told at BuckeyeThon.

“I’m excited for when we put up that final amount and we see how many miracles we’ve created, and see the faces of the people and the children,” Motsinger said the day before the event. “That feeling (that) we’ve done something bigger than ourselves to change someone’s life.”