Superdance 2010

NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Bishop O'Connell held its 35th annual Superdance for Cystic Fibrosis on Saturday, March 13, 2010 from noon until midnight. The students danced the afternoon and night away to some great local bands and talented DJs, while raising awareness and funds to find a cure for this disease.  Click on the slideshow to the right to view a few highlights of the event.

Online Donations Still Accepted
CLICK HERE to visit the online donation page.

 Alumni Come Together for the Cure
As is tradition, an alumni hospitality room was set up at the Superdance for alumni to mix and mingle with students, faculty and other alumni. Vintage Superdance t-shirts and yearbooks were also on display. In addition, more than 200 alumni gathered at Tom Tom Bar & Grill in Washington, DC. March 13 from 7 p.m. until midnight for an alumni-organized event to benefit CF research. This event raised an additional $2000 for the Superdance. Visit the Facebook event for complete details.

Superdance Assembly Raises Student Awareness of Cystic Fibrosis
On Friday, Feb. 19, the student body gathered in the auditorium for a two-hour assembly organized by the SCA Executive Board and all the Superdance student committees. READ MORE...

Superdance Planning Covered in December issue of the Arlington Catholic Herald
Student correspondent, Erin McDonough, gives an inside look into the early planning stages for Superdance 2010. Read more in the December 24-31 Arlington Catholic Herald, or online HERE.

HISTORY

Since 1975, Bishop O'Connell students have been hosting a 12-hour dance marathon to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Foundation and their quest to find a cure for this genetic disease. The first dance marathon was organized by Msgr. James McMurtrie--then principal of the school--and Maura O'Donnell, whose sister had succumbed to CF not long before.

For more than 30 years, Superdance has become a uniting force at Bishop O'Connell. It raises student awareness of this little known disease, while raising more than $3 million for CF research since its inception. Over 95 percent of the student population participates in this annual spring event, bringing in pledges from friends, neighbors and family members.

Maura O'Donnell, who helped start this tradition, went on to nursing school, but also died from CF a few years later. Representatives of the O'Donnell family, and other families stricken with this disease, come each year to the Superdance assembly to help educate and inspire the students. When the Superdance began in 1975, the life expectancy for someone with CF was less than 16 years. Today that number is greater than 35.

For more information on this disease, visit the CF Foundation Web site at www.cff.org.