A pair of dances geared to unite students against bullying are set to be held in the Palmerton Area School District.

The Palmerton Junior and Senior High School Cheerleading Parents Club will host the celebrating fall sports and anti-bullying awareness dances.The high school dance will be held Thursday at the high school, while the junior high dance will be held Sept. 18 at the junior high school.At the dance, the students will be able to sign "The end of bullying begins with me" petition, as well as the UNITE poster, said Christine Malick, president for the Palmerton Jr. and Sr. High School Cheerleading Parents Club."The anti-bullying is more our focus for the dances," Malick said. "I am hoping (these dances) will unite students and bullying will decrease in our school."A few days after the events, the students' names will be entered into the national petition on Pacer.org, Malick said."I picked this theme in the hopes that the children come together as one and stop bullying because it is becoming an epidemic in our schools," she said. "I am hoping this opens the doors for children to stand up and make a difference, and bullying decreases."Senior high/junior high school Principal Paula Husar said she supports the dances."It is an absolutely wonderful thing whenever we can bring students together in a safe environment for fun," Husar said. "And it is even better in a case like this when we are going to highlight anti-bullying."