Dennis Township School District students and staff got on stage for a good cause this past week at the DT's Got Talent show.
Held at the Dennis Township Primary School, the event is a fundraiser for the 8th grade class trip. With almost 200 people in attendance, the audience filled one half of the auditorium.
Master of Ceremonies Lisa Salimbene entertained the audience with her commentary between acts and remarked on how tough the judges had it this year. Judges were John Amenhauser, Jeff Van Drew, Chris Hayes, Don Tozer, and Julie and Lonnie Factor.
Student Government advisors Marni McCann and Amanda Unkle worked closely with 8th grade advisor Carlos Covarrubias to put the show together and students worked as stage crew for the evening.
Staff members Jeanette Riggitano, Kelli Turner, Greta Liston and a number of parents organized the bake sale while Betteann Kerr and Kathy Pittaluga gathered and arranged the prizes and scoring for the event.
First place went to a comedy routine - "The Queens of Comedy" - Riley Laus, Paige McCurdy and Madeleine McCurdy. In second place, Gavin Dolack showed a short video of his Rube Goldberg machine, and Jake Bryan took home the People's Choice award for his performance of "Love Yourself."
Other contestants included Mason Nees, Mackenzie Enteado, Antonia Howard, Jordyn Mulligan, Nicole Needham, Rachel Miller, Kate Herlihy, Alexis Jamison, Kelcie Morrow, Joel Sheptock, Kevin Connolly, Jacob James, Abby Dickinson, Olivia Giordano, Rowan Pelham, Gianna Cheseroni, and Allison Platt.
Chloe Selover, a Dennis Township alumnus, and three teacher acts helped fill the time at the end of the evening as the results were being tallied.
"We had a great night with a lot of variety and we raised a good amount of money to put towards the 8th grade trip," states Covarrubias. He hopes the talent show will continue to be a popular event and effective fundraiser for the 8th grade.