THE FIRST ACADEMY RECEIVES 2021 MARATHON PROGRAMMING AWARD

“In only its third year, Royal-Thon at The First Academy celebrated a historic year despite the challenges of COVID-19, with a main event that created memories for students of all ages and doubled the amount raised to $80,739.60 on February 19, 2021.

The first event of the day was for Lower School students from Kindergarten to 5th Grade. Because Royal-Thon had to plan for COVID-19 safe and socially distanced experience this year, students spent 45 minutes with their grade and high school Royal-Thon leaders teaching the Morale Dance and playing games. At the end of each dance session, Lower School students had their own mini-reveal, celebrating the amount they raised through their Dimes & Dollars fundraiser that led up to the main event. This change in programming was a success and is the plan moving forward in future years for Lower School Royal-Thon.

At the Middle School event, students competed in a Just Dance tournament. Anyone could participate, competing to move on to represent their grade and dancing for the grand prize. Prizes featured tickets to local restaurants and amusement parks donated by local businesses. Additionally, high school student leaders performed the Morale Dance and explained the purpose behind Royal-Thon, before the final reveal of how much money Middle School students raised in their Candy Grams fundraiser.

The final main event was for high school students that evening. Going into the night, students knew they had raised approximately $60,000, surpassing their initial $40,000 goal for the year, but hoped with additional push hours and activities, there would be an even higher final total for the night.

Programming for Royal-Thon looked different due to COVID-19, but students worked hard to plan approved activities that would also help grow Royal-Thon overall. While initial ticket sales were similar to previous years, event retention was much more evident with students showing up early and staying throughout the night. This was thanks to much more clear programming throughout the night which included a cakewalk, dodgeball tournament, and just dance tournament, in addition to games like octoball, ping pong, and more. Floor Plan 2021

Beyond games and activities, students participated in additional push hours, miracle family videos, and a focus on the main reason for the event – supporting our partner college, the University of Central Florida, and hospital, Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. Some of the push activities included students raising money to pie a principal in the face and a final Donor Drive push to see who would reveal the final total number on stage. In the final hours leading up to the reveal, thousands of dollars were raised between Donor Drive accounts and the online silent auction.

The success of the main event reverberated across our campus for days to come, with students of all ages talking about the unique fun they had and the impact of the $80K raised, setting a record for The First Academy.”