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| Springfield High School's mini-THON raised $170,262.58 in 2012. Photo submitted by Chelsea Pierce. |
Springfield High School has had mini-THONs for the last 10 years in the memory of Steve
Stefani, a Social Studies teacher who passed away in 2002 from lung cancer. Springfield
rose over $170,000 this year.
“A mini-THON is a chance for
high school students to do the same thing the big THON does,” said John Gildea, who has been Springfield’s mini-THON’s faculty
advisor for the last seven years. “It allows students to have leadership and compassion
for these children, and it allows them to come together as a school and raise
donations for the Four Diamonds Fund.”
Gildea is a Penn State alumnus
who danced three times at Penn State’s THON, so he knows what THON is about. He
brings students who are a part of Springfield’s leadership team up to Penn
State’s THON each year.
“It really hits home for them when
they see family hour and the total being revealed,” Gildea said.
The experience for some of Gildea’s
students has prompted them to attend Penn State.
