Yellow shirts speckled the dance floor this past weekend at the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon. From the Rec Hall bleachers, they added an element of flair, mixing with the brightly colored beach balls, funky hats and crazy tube socks.

But to the dancers on the floor, the morale team members wearing the shirts meant so much more.

The main goal of the morale team is to maintain the spirits of the dancers and to keep their minds off their aching feet and bodies, said Dan Heist, Thon morale chair.

"One of the things we stress is that we do it for the kids and that's why we should keep going," he said.

Twenty-four hours into Thon, a dancer who had been on her feet the entire time rested her weight on a table and her eyes began to droop. Her spirits seemed as weary as her eyelids when a yellow shirt approached with one reason to go on — a little girl with pigtails and a little smile.

"What's special is to pick up a kid and put him in the dancer's arms and tell them, 'This is why you're dancing,'" said Chris Heuisler, a morale captain.

Some dancers emphasized the importance of the families as moralers.

"Everyone says the dancers are the reason we raise the money for the kids — the moralers are the reason. But, the best moralers are the kids and the families," Matt Zielinski (freshman-engineering), a Thon dancer.

Out of more than 970 applicants, 480 moralers were chosen by 16 morale team captains in October. S

ince then, they were split into groups of 30 and have met once each week to plan theme hours and random activities, learn how to give massages and to bond with other members, Heist said.

"If your team is tight and friendly, they will work well together on the floor, and they will be compelled to give 100 percent," he said.

Heist went on a retreat with team captains earlier this year to create the traditional line dance. This year's dance, he said, used sound bites of seven clips to incorporate popular culture with themes from Penn State.

"It's more difficult than previous years, but it's fun and funny and it's not the same old structure," he said.

In the spirit of competition, this year morale teams were grouped by color and given the incentive to produce the theme hours for points.

The team that receives the most points at the end of Thon will be the first to have its name added to a "Reach Within" plaque, he said.

Moralers were each assigned to a randomly assigned couple and worked five four-hour shifts during the weekend. Their job was to keep dancers motivated and to bring them goodies such as snacks, journals, coloring books, crossword puzzles and water guns.

Many of the dancers form a friendship with their moralers, Heist said.

"My dancers are the best dancers here," said Alfie Parker (sophomore-theater and dance), donning electric green hair and colorful stickers.

His dancers shared similar sentiments.

"He's what every dancer dreams of," said Michele Gerry (sophomore-rehabilitation education), one of Parker's dancers.

Weaving through a sea of dancers and moralers, armed with water guns and bouncy balls, the children laughed as they aimed at a target.

As the dancers and moralers wiped off their wet faces, they made the children's target their own and moved one step closer to making that goal within reach.

"It makes me feel as though one person can really make a difference because each one of us is only one person," said Maya Comerota, a morale team captain. "Together we make up the biggest (student-run) philanthropy in the world."