A Revere faculty member and a group of students attended the Night to Shine dance, sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation, held at churches nationwide.

Shelly Schultz, an interventionist at Revere High School and a member of multiple bands, played in the lower part of the church for the parents the night of the dance. Volunteers set up the dance to mirror a prom. At the beginning of the dance, announcers mentioned the students’ names as they walked down an aisle and volunteers crowned them. During one of the dance breaks, she had an opportunity to sneak upstairs and watch the crowning where every kid walked down the aisle with a buddy like they were at prom. The attendants of the dance ranged from age as some were still in high school and others had already graduated. As the dance-goers danced and sang karaoke upstairs, the parents enjoyed live entertainment simultaneously downstairs. Shultz’s band volunteered at the dance and performed for the parents. Schultz further elaborated on her favorite parts of the dance.

“Kid-wise; I liked this karaoke room they had . . . which was totally separate from the dance, so I stopped up in there for a little bit. Parent-wise; I liked the fact that the parents were getting waited on and catered to– that was really touching to see just because those parents don’t get a break, and their life is wrapped up in helping their kid succeed,” Schultz said.

Christina Petras, a senior who attends both Revere and CVCC, started going to this dance last year. One of her teachers at CVCC told her about the dance, and she liked it enough to return this year. She plans to keep going as she loved seeing a bunch of different people with whom she enjoyed getting to know. She also loved the karaoke. Petras explained what the dance means to her and why she plans on coming back.

“Honestly, seeing people being so supportive and understanding and respectful of who they are and what makes people special [means a lot to me]. Just going in there and walking around and meeting up with other people and going around seeing friends and hanging out and doing whatever inspires [me] to do the right thing as a person,” Petras said.  

Revere graduate Jack Ray also attended the dance for the second year in a row. He explained why he decided to come back to the dance.

“My favorite part of the Night to Shine dance was dancing with my friends and teammates from hockey and the limo ride,” Ray said.

This dance is open to everyone who reserves a spot and occurs annually at more than 500 churches nationwide.

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