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Senior Year Marks Third Annual Charlotte's Dance for a Chance

The third annual Charlotte's Dance for a Chance will be held on Friday, April 13, 2018, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. in Panther Hall to "get brain tumors off kids' minds" while enjoying a fun-filled night with festivities, amazing food, dancing, and prizes. The event is open to the public.
 
Brain tumors have become a leading cause of many severe illnesses and, unfortunately, deaths amongst all ages. Every dollar raised goes directly towards helping both the Kortney Rose Foundation and CHOP become one step closer to finding a cure to help create more miracle outcomes.  
 
"Charlotte's Dance for a Chance has had a deeper personal connection to me that is so much more than just a community service event,” said Charlotte Kaye, founder of the event. “It has truly become a crucial part of me. Not only has it allowed me an opportunity to give back to those who are currently battling a brain tumor, but it has also opened up a learning experience for me on what I really underwent during my time in the ICU. This newfound and continuously growing knowledge not only helps me to give back in my philanthropic endeavors, but also in my intended career as a Pediatric Neurologist and how I could use this gathered research to help in ensuring more miracle, ‘lottery-winning’ outcomes like mine."
 
Charlotte Kaye, senior at Ranney School, started this foundation with best friend Sarah Killian, because of her own story. Eight days before Charlotte’s third birthday, Dr. Stephen Thompson, director of the Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Program at Hackensack University Medical Center, sat Charlotte’s mother, Jennifer, down in his office and told her the awful news: Charlotte had a brain tumor. 

Using microsurgical techniques and a sophisticated navigational system, Dr. Fried removed the entire tumor. Charlotte was later selected by her doctors as the "patient of their careers" for Hackensack’s 125th Anniversary Medical Journal and is considered a medical miracle.

One of the things that Charlotte remembers most from her time following her two emergency brain surgeries and seven weeks in the ICU is that she had to miss her very first dance recital. Little did she know at the time that Sarah Killian, her future best friend, was dancing in that very same recital. 

Over the summer of 2015, at the age of 16, Charlotte became interested in doing something to help other children who were in the unfortunate situation she had been in. After months of thought, Charlotte came up with the idea of having a danceathon at Ranney, to “make up for” the very first dance recital that she missed and raise awareness and funds for pediatric brain tumor research.
 
"I'd like to look back on my time at Ranney and remember Charlotte's Dance for a Chance as leaving a life-changing legacy among the rest of the student body for the school's future,” said Charlotte. “My goal is to leave knowing that this event has created some unity within campus, and has helped in boosting school spirit school-wide.”
 
“Starting at square one and hosting the danceathon now for the third year annually has hopefully inspired others to take that extra step and stand strongly for what they passionately believe in when they are in the position of making a difference,” said Charlotte. “I'd like to challenge everyone to take on a project with a special meaning of their own, even if it's with the help of a friend like the me taking on this journey with the help of my best friend, Sarah. Charlotte's Dance for a Chance has been a dream come true in every way, especially with the continuous guidance and help of our faculty advisor Mr. Sullivan as well as the parents and our irreplaceable committee of hard-working individuals.”
 
“As I am about to encounter the next chapter of my life, I wish to look back on the one that was created at Ranney and the memory of catapulting the beginnings of change not only in our local community, but the world collectively. It's the action behind the words that produces the change the world wants to see in the world, and it is YOUR chance to dance.”
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Ranney School

235 Hope Road
Tinton Falls, NJ 07724
Tel. 732.542.4777
Our mission is to know and value every child, nurturing intellectual curiosity and confidence, and inspiring students to lead honorably, think creatively, and contribute meaningfully to society. 

We envision Ranney School as a nurturing learning community, in which families, faculty, alumni, and all of Ranney’s constituents collaborate to know and value every child, foster individual talents, sustain powerful connections between children and adults, and graduate resilient, globally-minded citizens.