Performing to a full house, Karris Nissley and Griffin Heckaman won Saturday’s Dancing with the Stars for Charity at the Warsaw Performing Arts Center.
The event brings together Warsaw Community Schools (WCS) staff and local community members, all stepping onto the dance floor to support 10 local charities. Teams were made up of a WCS staff member, a community participant and two student choreographers from the Warsaw Community High School Dance Department.
Kris Lake, Performing Arts Center director at Warsaw Community High School, said performers started rehearsing in October. Lake said Saturday’s event is about, not only fundraising, but also “an awesome and fantastic sign of endurance and courage.”
Each team was also tasked with selecting one nonprofit organization that serves Kosciusko County. Nissley and Heckaman danced for Giving Basics. Other nonprofit organizations represented Saturday were Food Bank of Northern Indiana, Boomerang Backpacks, Habitat for Humanity of Kosciusko County, Kosciusko Senior Services, My Team Triumph, Fellowship Missions, Fear is a Liar Ministries, Giant Paw Prints Rescue and Project Ebenezer.

    Karris Nissley and Griffin Heckaman dance during Dancing with the Stars for Charity Saturday. Photo by Jackie Gorski, TIMES-UNION
  

Each team rehearsed two performances for their selected charity.
Lake said performers were asked to step out of their comfort zone and “do something they may not find natural. Some of them have never danced a day in their life. But that is truly what this is all about – doing something incredible and extraordinary in the name of charity.”
In a recorded video, WCS Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert said he was excited for attendees to meet some of the WCS staff members and “they are being very courageous in being out here tonight because this is not their normal role.” The WCS staff members have been working hard with students and community partners behind the scenes.
Hoffert said the winners Saturday were the nonprofit organizations.
“Thank you for coming alongside them and supporting them and thank you for giving” WCS the honor and privilege in participating in Dancing with the Stars for Charity.
Lake said each team could receive one audience vote per mobile device. A panel of judges cast 80% of the votes during the event. The judges were Karri Morgan, Scott Wiley, Matthew Smith and Suzie Light.
Nissley and Heckaman received all 10s from the judges Saturday in both performances.
Heckaman, a math teacher at Edgewood Middle School and a football coach on the WCHS football team this year, said the event was an incredible experience.
“I have loved all of it – even the challenges. It’s just an incredible blessing to come out and be able to represent an awesome charity and help the community,” he said.
Nissley, who works in the digital marketing department at Silveus Insurance Group, said she is not a dancer. It took five months of two or three days of coming to practice for the event. She ran track in high school and college, so she thinks it helped with her endurance, but she never expected to win.
“It’s honestly all due to the choreographers. They are an amazing group of high school girls. They are going to go far,” she said.
Second place went to April Slone and Joel Duran, dancing for Boomerang Backpacks. They scored a 9 and three 8s in their first performance and a 10 and three 9s in their second performance from the panel of judges.
Third place went to Kelly Bradley, dancing for Project Epenezer. She scored two 10s, an 8 and a 9 in her first performance and four 10s in her second from the judges.
The Above and Beyond Award went to WCHS student choreographer Malori McDaniels.
Warsaw Community High School Honors Select Ensemble students opened the first act and closed the second act. Deb Collier School of dance/Class Act Dance Troupe closed the first act and the Lee Ann Stewart Dance School opened the second act.