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Jonas Henley 

OCT. 8, 2025—Pal-Mac High School senior Jonas Henley is just days away from seeing one of his dreams come to reality.

Henley will host his first-ever car show and concert event at the high school this Saturday afternoon. The show will welcome cars from all eras and will feature live student-performed and DJ’d music, food trucks, a 50/50 raffle, and other vendors. 

The event will also double as a fundraiser for the Pal-Mac High School Band, which Henley is a member of. The school’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) will also be accepting non-perishable food donations ahead of its annual “Fill-A-Bus” drive in late November. 

“It'll be a nice little community event,” Henley said. “We're gonna get people together.”

The event is the culmination of nearly four years of planning, as Henley said the show started as an idea back when he was freshman. The entire effort is a part of his Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS) project, which is a function of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme. The purpose of the CAS programme is for students to show initiative, craft their collaboration and problem-solving skills, and take part in some form of community service.

That’s where the fundraiser comes in.  Henley said he’s always had an appreciation for cool cars, and the car community itself. When the time came to brainstorm an idea for the CAS project, he saw pairing a car show with his goal to raise money for the band as a no-brainer.

“The Select Choir has an event of their own, the Madrigal Dinner, and I've always looked at it and thought that's nice, it's really fun,” Henley said. “And that was kind of where we’re at with this [event], because I thought, how can I tie this into the band and make it fun?”

The event poster (provided)

But having an idea and making it a reality are two different things, and that’s where Henley started putting in the work. He says he hit the road in June and started talking to potential sponsors. His focus was on local businesses, and he brought in over a dozen of them. The companies range from mechanics and car dealerships to a bank, and an apparel store, among others.

You also can’t have a car show without the cars, so Henley hit the road again. He stopped by several area car shows and handed out flyers, he also shared those flyers with several car groups online.

Over the course of the next couple of months, the summer heat wasn’t  the only thing intensifying, as Henley continued to plan out the logistics of the event itself. He kept in contact with his sponsors as well as the District, and as the dog days of summer simmered down, Henley finalized what was at one time just a thought.

As the school year started, Henley, a captain on the Varsity Boys Soccer team, dribbled between his work in the classroom, the field, and the car show. 

While he said it was a lot to manage, Henley never doubted his ability to make it happen. Throughout the entire process, he says he learned a lot about how to adapt to changes both in and outside of his control. He also gained an appreciation for how the local businesses operate. 

"I also learned a lot about leadership, with gathering people and how to properly rally someone to want to come out to the event, “ Henley said. “People's time is more important than my own.”

The High School will host this first-ever show

But this whole experience was more than just about one year. Henley says he hopes to see the car show become an annual event. He wants to get through year one, sure, but his ultimate plan is to coordinate some sort of hand off to another group of interested students who could, in turn, continue the process.

“One day, my hope is to bring back my family in the future, and look back and  drop some crazy Dad lore,” Henley said. “I can say I started this right here.”

The show will run from noon until 3 p.m. on Saturday, with registration beginning at 10 a.m. The show will be held in the main parking lot at the high school. Motorcycles and tractors are also welcome. Registration is $15, but is otherwise free to attend.