Countless popular songs such as Whitney Houston’s Dance With Somebody, Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off, and Maroon Five’s Love Somebody convey the message that dancing makes you feel happy and carefree. This is most definitely how all of the participants of this year’s Zumbathon felt while participating in a great workout that benefited an even greater cause.

On Sunday, March 1, the Witness Inspire Act (WIA), sponsored by Ms. Vogel, hosted their second annual Zumbathon. The 2-hour events included two Zumba classes all for the price of $10 for students and $15 for adults. Not only did this buy you two Zumba classes and refreshments, but also all of the money collected was donated to a phenomenal charity. The mother of the Zumba teacher created the charity that WIA was supporting a few years ago. The goal of he charity is to create a fellowship community center for the youth in her mother’s home village in Cameroon.

Lehla Olson, this year’s Zumba instructor, has a very interesting history and upbringing. Her mother was born and raised in a village called Garoua-Boulai, located in the Eastern French speaking part of Cameroon. Her father was born in America and grew up in North Dakota. The two met in the 1970’s, when Olson’s father was in the Peace Corps. Now, they are happily married and continue to work with philanthropy-based occupations. Olson’s father works for the US Government’s African Development Foundation and her mother has been working on the creation of her community center for the last 15 years.

Although Zumba is dancing, you do not have to be a good dancer to try it out! The music is fun, and it is extremely rewarding when you nail a move. Olson even played authentic African music during the class, which was very catchy and lively. During the class you got to dance with partners, as well as congregate in a circle to jump and spin. All in all, even if you felt like you were making a fool out of yourself, you were having fun doing it!

Lehla Olson was extremely thankful for the work that our school has been doing in order to help others and educate those around of us of problems facing the world today. She implores all of us to never stop helping others and to always try to do well.