The class fundraising event for this year’s Monroe County startUP class takes place this week, with this group of young entrepreneurs inviting folks to welcome the new year by line dancing an evening away.

The “Boot Scoot into 2025” event takes place Friday at The Falls Reception and Conference Center in Columbia, featuring a buffet, 50/50 raffle and plenty of dancing.

Erica Crook of the startUP class shared details about the event, which serves as a fundraiser for students to get their personal business projects started in the spring.

As Crook said, the class landed on the project as students discovered a shared country music interest.

“The idea came from the fact that we all love to line dance, and we realized that the only other event like that is either in St. Louis or, like, in Collinsville,” Crook said. “There’s nothing close around here where you can just put your boots on and dance. We really wanted to make it accessible to the public around Monroe County.”

Doors open at 6 p.m. Jan. 3, and dancing starts at 6:30 p.m., with line dancing pros and newbies welcome as students will be providing a rundown of each dance.

An intermission is set for 8 p.m. to allow dancers to catch their breath and enjoy a buffet featuring soft drinks and appetizers.

At 9:30 p.m., guests will come together as awards like “best dressed” and “best dancer” are awarded alongside the 50/50 drawing. The event ultimately concludes at 10 p.m.

Crook said planning for the event has generally gone well as students have worked with folks at The Falls and attended line dancing classes at Sugar Spring Ranch to prepare.

“We’ve done really well,” Crook said. “We’ve had a few setbacks, but as a class we’re really excited to bring the event. We feel like it’s something that was produced to the best of our abilities, and we hope that could reflect on the community.”

She also highlighted that the event is truly student-led. While they have received help in organizing the project primarily from Monroe County startUP Program Facilitator Priscilla Wilkerson, the vast majority of the event’s details have been managed by Crook and her peers.

“For the most part, all of the things that you see, the schedule, the songs, that’s all made by us,” Crook said. “It’s really a great environment for us to share our creative experience, and it gives us a good opportunity to put something out there for the community that we enjoy.”

Wilkerson also spoke briefly about the event, suggesting the students might be following suit with last year’s class in putting together a second large fundraiser.

She also spoke generally about the progress the class has made at the halfway point of the school year, remarking that they’re “learning a lot, accomplishing a lot.”

“It’s a smaller group, so it’s different than the group last year,” Wilkerson said. “Less hands on deck, but it means that the students are getting to be a little more productive. I think they’re a hard-working group. They’re eager and have great ideas.”

Crook likewise offered her thoughts on how her year with the startUP program is going.

She noted how, being one of two students in the class from Waterloo, startUP has helped her branch out and meet other students in the county, becoming, as she described, “one close little family.”

Along with meeting more of her peers, Crook also spoke about networking opportunities she’s gained from class speakers and skills she’s learned over the past few months.

Crook particularly emphasized how the program is simply providing her an opportunity to push her self in high school that she might not have had otherwise.

“I’ve always known I wanted to start a business,” Crook said. “I always had an entrepreneurial mindset, but I never got the opportunity for someone to ask me if I could do that in high school. It’s always, ‘What do you wanna do after high school? Where are you gonna go in the future?’ This program has genuinely given me the opportunities to make something of myself while I’m in high school, and that is worth way more than I can put into words.”

For more information on the “Boot Scoot into 2025” event, check out the Monroe County startUP Facebook page or email monroecountystartup23@gmail.com.