Normally, the rooms of a middle school are quiet on the weekend with classes on break until Monday.

It was a different story Sunday afternoon at Panther Valley Middle School during its first Relay for Life miniTHON.Students danced, shot a few hoops, practiced their volleyball skills and dabbled at table tennis, all while supporting a good cause.Though it's had a Relay for Life team for 12 years, it had never tried anything like the miniTHON event in the past."Each year, as a team, we try and do just a little bit more to increase how much we can donate," said Kathy Inama, middle school nurse and part of the relay team. "This was a new idea. We're not sure how it will turn out, but our hope is that if the students have fun, they'll tell others and the word will spread for next year."For a starter event, the excitement level was high for students, who had the choice of sporting activities in the gymnasium or dancing in the cafeteria, where a disc jockey played the latest popular tunes.Sixth-graders Kaylee Gilbert and Antonio Perilli were part of a four-person table tennis game, while classmates Madison Heckman and Alexis Cooper were among a group playing volleyball.Each student said they were excited to be out supporting the American Cancer Society.Just over 40 students preregistered for the event, but more were signing up when doors opened just before 1 p.m. on Sunday."We had a $10 registration fee," Inama said. "That will be added to the proceeds we make on shirt and food sales. We didn't ask the students to get sponsors because we do have the relay team in May and we do that there."Several area businesses contributed to Sunday's event, Inama said.The miniTHON is a smaller version of the event made popular by Penn State University. Penn State's event is a 46-hour no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon.Panther Valley's event ended at 5 p.m. Sunday, but Inama hopes the students picked up a valuable lesson."We just want them to know it is important to give to others who are in need," she said.