Dance to honor late Monticello High School student, raise money for suicide prevention (2024)

During his middle school and high school years, Adam Bagley never missed his chance on the dance floor. His style was purely his own, and his exuberance was irresistible.

Bagley’s mother, Janeen Wisnieski, said that a middle school teacher who’d served as a chaperone for one of the school dances Bagley attended “gushed” recently about his energetic dancing.

Wisnieski said the chaperone recalled how “it reminded her of the ‘Footloose’ movie.” Bagley was right in the middle of the action, “sweating and having a great time.”

“He was a social butterfly, and always the life of the party,” his mother said. “You’re supposed to dance as if no one is watching, and that’s exactly what he was doing.”

An all-ages dance scheduled for Friday night at the Ix Art Park complex aims to bring other young people together on the dance floor to share a message of community support and suicide prevention in Bagley’s memory. The Monticello High School senior took his own life on March 17; he was 18 years old.

Friday’s “Dance Another Day;” party will raise funds for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention through advance sales of T-shirts and donations and remind dancers that “joy is out there, and it’s important to be happy,” Wisnieski said. “It’s about coming together and being a community and checking in on each other.”

Fancy K and special guests will be providing the music for the event, which is being presented by CrossFit Sports Performance & Rowing Center. Owner Martha Redinger, who's helping to organize the dance, has fond memories of Bagley coming to her gym.

“He worked out at our gym with his parents,” Redinger said. “He was a good athlete. He learned fast, and he was always pleasant.”

Bagley, a member of Monticello’s golf team, “was pretty athletic and could play any sport,” Wisnieski said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide was the 11th leading cause of death in the United States in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available.

In 2022, 49,476 Americans took their own lives, and there were an estimated 1.6 million suicide attempts. White males accounted for 68.46% of those deaths, with men dying at a rate of 3.85 times that of women. The suicide rate in 2022, adjusted for age, was 14.21 per 100,000 people.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention offers help on a variety of topics, including ways for family members to process the loss of a loved one and for people who have attempted suicide before to get the support they need. Its "Talk Away the Dark" campaign offers education to help people spot warning signs for suicide and find ways to start conversations with people they’re concerned about.

Friday’s dance is a reminder that it’s OK to seek or accept help. That semicolon after "Dance Another Day;" is not a typo; it means the sentence doesn’t stop there. There is a future that can be better than the present moment, and people in pain don’t have to go it alone.

Admission to the dance is a $10 minimum donation or T-shirt purchase made in advance at www.customink.com/fundraising/crossfit-sprc-dance-another-day. All proceeds will go to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Just show proof of your donation or purchase at the door to join the party.

“Every penny,” Redinger said. “People have been giving more money [than the minimum], and you can do that.”

“We wanted it to have a flavor of ‘Life matters’ and ‘You matter.’ A more uplifting event speaks to that age group, which was somewhat diminished and lost during the pandemic,” Wisnieski said.

“The T-shirt says, ‘You matter,’” Redinger said. Wearing the T-shirt after the event can help spread the message that the community needs everyone and no one is alone.

“An uplifting social event reminds us of the joy of living,” Wiesniski said. “We’re hoping to just save one.”

If you are contemplating suicide or worried about someone who might be, help is available 24/7 in English and Spanish from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Call or text 988, or text TALK to 741741. For tips on how to start a conversation with someone you’re concerned about, or to find other resources, go to https://afsp.org.