Attendees of Sem DM 2019 pose for the annual group photo at the end of the night.( Photo Courtesy of @wyomingseminary Instagram)
Armand Charland ’19 and Ashley Metz ’22 compete in the first ever Just Dance Competition. (Photo Courtesy of Emma Bean ’20).
Sem DM Executive board members Emma Bean ’20, Molly Leahy ’19, Grace Parsons ’21, Paige Parsons ’20, Reese Butcher ’20, Lanie Fenster ’20, Halle Kehl ’19, Becca Hammerman ’19, and Bari Lefkowitz ‘20 hold up signs indicating the final amount collected for donations.
Sem DM 2019: Dancing the Night and Day Away
by Reese Butcher ’20
What is Sem DM? One might give the literal answer of “Sem Dance Marathon,” and one might take a more sentimental approach with “A night to meet kids who have survived too many surgeries and raise money for our local Children’s Miracle Network hospital.” Regardless of the answer and with over 250 students showing up, the night definitely has a great impact on our community.
This year, we had three Miracle Kids, Ally, Carter, and Ella. On March 30, these kids came to Sem to be celebrated and become the stars of the show. After running through tunnels created by members of the Sem community, the Miracle Kids and their families shared their stories, followed by games, learning the morale dance, and inflatables. In every event of the night, you could almost always find Ally, Carter, or Ella leading the charge.
When the event neared its fifth hour, the room became electrified as events picked up their pace and fundraising became the motivator at every student’s core. Starting off with the raffle, Miracle Kids pulled out names of lucky students(and faculty) who won all sorts of prizes, including an Amazon Fire Stick. The highly-anticipated annual pie-auction where Rev., Mr. Granger, and new-comer Mr. Morris all took turns stoking the flames of students eager to spend hundreds just to smash a lemon meringue pie in their faces.
After screams and laughter filled the air of the circle surround the pies flying at faculty faces, Sem DM attendees opened up their circle to experience a more serious event of the night. When students first entered the event at 2:00pm, they were given a hospital bracelet to keep on the whole night. When everyone opened up into the bigger circle, the Miracle Kids came around to cut off the bracelets to signify leaving the hospital and the freedom from the momentous weight that those bracelets represent. Coupled with a speech by Mr. Shafer, the “ceremony” had most in the room feeling emotional and some even crying.
But then, it was time for the reveal. “How much did we raise? Was it more than last year?” Questions like these floated through the air as members of the Sem DM Executive Board were given numbers. Slowly, they filed onto the too small stage and waited for Mr. Shafer to explain how the reveal would go this year. Opting for a non-suspense filled year, $34,018.56 was thrown up in unison as cheers fill the room.
With over $34,000 being raised, Sem DM 2019 will go down as the most successful Sem DM to date and add to the over $130,000 raised by the Sem community for the Janet Weis Children’s Miracle Network hospital. But even more important are the long-lasting impacts that this event has year after year on everyone involved.