News and Features

Black and White Affair warms winter with dancing

EFW hopes event will help people learn about its mission

Jan. 22, 2013

e-mail
print

The Education Foundation of Wauwatosa is geared to raise funds and educate parents about its mission at the Black and White Catered Affair, taking place at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

The event will feature music by 15-piece big band Swing Nouveau, food by the Crowne Plaza and an auction. Vince Vitrano from WTMJ-4 will be the master of ceremonies for the event.

It is slated to be the first in a series of annual cocktail affairs and the second yearly EFW fundraiser, along with the walk-run that takes place in spring.

EFW organizers expect between 125 and 150 participants at the Black and White Catered Affair.

Mary Phillips, president-elect of the EFW, said: "It came about because Tosa had the Firefly Fling a couple of years back and they stopped doing that. There hasn't been a dance event for adults in the community for some time, and one of our board members thought it would be a good idea to bring something back as a fundraising event."

The EFW took inspiration from similar dances held by neighboring educational foundations in Mequon-Theinsville, Shorewood and Whitefish Bay.

Black and white will be the umbrella colors under which attendees can accessorize their school colors. Event organizers stress that this event is not for formal attire, but catered to cocktail outfits.

The timing of the dance was set to not overlap with major school events. With high school finals wrapped up and the cold snap of January setting in, organizers feel this is a good time to get parents out and about.

"January's a good time to put on something like this," Dean Teofilo, co-chairman of the EFW, said. "People want something to look forward to. Not a lot of things are happening in the heart of winter."

The EFW will use the event to showcase its goal, which is to provide grants for creative methods of teaching. They gave out 16 grants last year, totaling more than $36,187, to classroom projects like using Kinex to understand simple machines or putting iPads in schools.

"One of the biggest reasons that we're doing this is that a lot of people participate in the walk-run and the parents in the district aren't sure where the funds are going," Teofilo said. "We're going to be showing how it benefits the school and your child. We really want to create awareness."