Cordley Snags 2024 Lights On! Trophy
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Cordley ‘danced the night away’ on stage at the 2024 Lights On! event, where they performed to a medley of two iconic pop stars from the new millennium—Jennifer Lopez and Will Smith. In My Y2K Era was the theme of this year’s edition of the Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence’s annual dance competition, featuring some of the top artists from 1995-2005.
Families packed into the crowded auditorium on Thursday, Oct. 17, filling both levels in anticipation of the event. Hosted at Haskell Indian Nations University, Cordley earned first-place honors, Langston Hughes finished second with their performance to the Spice Girls and Simple Plan, and third place went to Hillcrest for their NSYNC and Brandy routine. Scores aside, every team put on an incredible performance that looked straight out of a Y2K music video. Each choreographer was in attendance to support their teams, bursting with pride as they watched their kids perform the routines they’ve been practicing for weeks.
“I love dancing and empowering people, so it’s amazing seeing them up on the stage, happy as can be,” said Mackenzee Losure, returning choreographer for Cordley. “I’ve been a dancer my whole life, so it’s just so inspiring to see them loving something as much as I do!”
For the last several weeks, all 12 Club sites have been hard at work, putting together a dance routine to a mashup of hits by the artists they were assigned at random. One of the most impressive parts of this event is the ability for these young dancers, many who have never had the opportunity to dance before, to learn a choreographed routine and work together as a team. What resulted was around 150 kids braving the stage with impressive courage and dancing their hearts out.
“I am so excited that in my first year here, we won!” Said Abby Rumple, the Unit Director for Cordley. Abby started at the Club in July of this year, and got to witness her first big event with Lights On! and help her team take home the gold. “I’m really proud of the kids and Ms. Mackenzee for all the hard work they’ve put in.”
The crowd had plenty to cheer about as one impressive performance after another lit up the stage. It was made even more entertaining by the costume choices each team selected, featuring more than one set of velour tracksuits and baggy pants. In order to get the full Y2K experience, there were some interesting artist pairings that our sites blended into amazing dance mixes. The teens at the Center for Great Futures danced to a combination of Evanescence and Aaliyah, two very different influential artists of the new millennium. Bow Wow and Avril Lavigne had the New York team ‘dribbling up and down the court’, while Schwegler embraced ‘all the small things’ with their Blink-182 and Britney Spears mashup.
Tim Cichanowicz, a friend of the Club, lent his voice to this event. With a plethora of puns, he brought laughter and energy that made the performances even more fun. At the end of the night, the most difficult job belonged to the panel of judges.
The brave volunteers were tasked with scoring the dances in categories such as degree of difficulty, creativity, showmanship and choreography. The 2024 Lights On! judges were: Bart Littlejohn (Mayor of Lawrence), Kate Lorenz (the Lied Center), Dr. Frank Harwood (Kansas State Department of Education), Katie Lomshek (Current Chiefs Cheerleader), Wayne Ricks (Active Youth Advocate), Cynthia Freeman (Avila University) and Christina Haswood (Kansas State Representative).
Beyond its before and after school programs, BGCLK serves many purposes. Part of creating an optimal Club experience is facilitating a sense of belonging and creating opportunities for youth that they may not get to experience otherwise. The annual Lights On! event does exactly that. This dance competition provides the chance for Club kids to shine on stage for all of their families, friends and fans in attendance.
BGCLK’s Lights On! 2024 is one of approximately 8,000 afterschool programs around the nation expected to participate in the 24th annual Lights On Afterschool celebration. The Lawrence event was made possible by host Haskell University, sponsor Healthy Blue, and grant support from the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program.
Launched in October 2000, Lights On Afterschool is the only nationwide annual event celebrating after school programs and their important role in the lives of children, families and communities. The national celebration of Lights On Afterschool Day is a tribute to the organizations across the country that keep their “lights on” after school hours.
The Afterschool Alliance organizes Lights On Afterschool to draw attention to the many ways afterschool programs support students by offering them opportunities to learn new things. The Lights On! events send a powerful message that millions more kids need quality afterschool programs. As a partner of the alliance and the largest afterschool program in Lawrence, the Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence works every day to help fill that need.
“I love how uninhibited the kids are,” said Laci Maltbie, BGCLK CEO, after the show. “I want them to stay that happy and confident forever.”