Dance With the Stars raises money for youth program

CONWAY — Attendees to this year’s Dance With the Stars, Conway’s Got Talent event on Feb. 25, will get a rare chance to see Burt Bacharach and Dionne Warwick for a $10 admission fee.

OK, so Bacharach is actually Conway School District Superintendent Greg Murry, and Warwick is Carolyn Greer,but organizers promise an entertaining evening.

The event is the annual fundraiser for Choosing to Excel, a nonprofit organization that offers programs aimed at helping youth make healthy choices.

Thelma Moton, executive director, said the admission price was dropped from $20 to $10. Doors will open at6 p.m., and the show will start at 6:30 in the James H. Clark Auditorium on the west high school campus.

“We want to fill up the auditorium,” she said.

Chances to win a 2010 Toyota Prius from Crain GMC in Conway are $50 each, limited to 1,000 tickets.

Funding sources for the program have dried up, Moton said, so this year’s event is particularly important.

“Funding has basically zeroed out,” Moton said.

She said the goal is to make $60,000 on the event and raffle.

“This will help us maintain until I can find additional funding sources,” she said.

Choosing to Excel programs include Children of Prisoners, which matches children with adults as mentors to help them get involved in activities outside of school. The program has expanded to include children in alternative school, Moton said.

“Our goal is to get those kids back in a regular setting,” she said.

Summer camp provides hot meals and activities for 100-plus students for five weeks each summer.

“This funding is crucial for summer camp,” she said.

This year’s lineup of dancers and entertainers is a good one, Moton said.

Murry was Elvis and one of Gladys Knight’s Pips last year.

“He’s always a hoot,” Moton said.

Murry, a former church music minister and publicschool music teacher, said Greer picks the person or act, “and we see what we can do to make it happen.”

“I’m happy to assist with such an important fundraiser for an important partner of our school district,” Murry said. “Excel is making a difference in the lives of kids, and I hope that our city will come out and support this great event.”

Former Miss ArkansasAlyse Eady, who was first runner-up to Miss America 2011, will perform a ventriloquist actfor the crowd.

Moton and her husband, Danny, will perform with Greer and Arlene Lasker as Pop Staples and the Staple Singers.

Ferris Jackson, an assistant principal at Conway High School-West, is also part of the entertainment lineup.

Woody Cummins, a former teacher and administrator in the district, and teachers from the elementary school named for him will have a special performance, Moton said.

Other entertainment will be from district employees Ben Broyles and teachers from Conway High School-East; Lindsey Jones and teachers from Theodore Jones Elementary School; ElizabethHarbison and teachers from Ellen Smith Elementar y ; and Shannon Gerraputa and teachers from Julia Lee Moore Elementary.

Dancers will be Denise Bradley of Carl Stuart Middle School and Vernon James; and La Shanta Johnson of Carl Stuart Middle School and a partner to be announced; Lanedra Franklin of Ruth Doyle Intermediate School and Har vell Howard; and Linda Hargis, retired school district administrator, and Jerry Crain.

Dancers can win two ways - the judge’s selection and $5 votes from audience members.

This is the sixth annual event.

“Each year, we keep thinking it’s going to wane, but people keep saying, ‘Are you going to do it again?’” Moton said, laughing.

“It’s going to be a blast.”

Tickets may be purchased at any school or on the Choosing to Excel website, www.c2espace.com.

More information is availableby calling (501) 505-8590.

Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.

com.

River Valley Ozark, Pages 145 on 01/29/2012

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