Superdance 50

Superdance 50-- Back to the Cure

Lilly Salva ('28) and MJ Selwood ('28)

Superdance is a 12 hour dance marathon that lasts from noon to midnight, this year taking place on Saturday March 8, with  O’Connell celebrating its 50th anniversary of the Superdance. The theme is Back to the Cure, based on the movie Back to the Future and the idea of going back in time to celebrate all of the past superdances! Superdance was created in 1976 to help raise money to find a cure for cystic fibrosis. It was organized by Maura O’Donnell and her classmates after Maura’s sister, Brenda, age 16, died of this disease in her sophomore year. Maura went on to college but then died of the same disease soon after. This is an example of how devastating this disease can be for a family. Since 1976, DJO has raised over five million dollars becoming the #1 private donor in America. This support has helped the life expectancy of individuals with cystic fibrosis extend from their teenage years to around 60 years old! Superdance is one of the most beloved traditions in Bishop O'Connell's history and is a time of school spirit, friendly competition between grades, and fun, but most importantly a time where we all unite under one cause. So what is Cystic Fibrosis?

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a hereditary chronic illness. CF targets the lungs and the digestive system of the body and can turn a minor cold into a life threatening lung disease. There are around 40,000 people in the U.S. affected by this sickness. CF is harmful because there is a defective gene that causes uncommonly thick mucus that floods the lungs causing the abnormal level of these lung diseases. CF also makes it harder for the body to digest food, blocking the pancreas and preventing the enzymes from breaking down food. CF patients have to be careful about getting colds, playing sports, or even walking outside. CF is life threatening and can put people in hospitals for an extended period of time. CF doctors have made many breakthroughs helping their patients with cystic fibrosis live a closer to a normal life expectancy, but there has yet to be an all encompassing cure. Bishop O’Connell is working hard to make the dream of that cure a reality. 

As one of the biggest - if not the biggest- traditions at Bishop O’Connell, the school kicked off the Superdance spirit on Friday, February 7.  This four hour assembly, presented by the SCA, brought attention to Cystic Fibrosis, with many guest speakers who shared their personal experiences.  To make supporting this cause more efficient, this is the first year registration was made entirely digital.  This made it easier to reach out to family and friends to donate to the cause as well, and students can even see how your class is doing with fundraising and registration.  

The theme “Back To the Cure” celebrates some of the greatest past Superdances, represented by the different committees, such as the food committee, the security committee, the decoration committee, and many others.  These committees helped start the hype for Superdance by having different games between grades and showing fun videos they made at the assembly. At the end of the assembly we got a long awaited and spectacular performance by the Mens Dance Team.