Bella Davies takes dancing very seriously.
Ever since she got to Nazareth Academy High School as a freshman, she has been highly involved in planning one of the biggest dance events around.
And while she does it because she likes seeing people have fun when they’re out performing on the dance floor, the main thing she gets out of it is helping others.
Davies, a Torresdale native, is the head of operations for Naz-A-Thon. She got involved freshman year and became an executive for the dancing fundraiser sophomore year, a position she also held during her junior year.
This year, she runs the show, and she couldn’t be happier about it.
“I think I’ve always been very interested in community service even back when I was going to grade school next door,” Davies said. “I think my first Naz-A-Thon was when I was in fifth grade and even back then, I saw how impactful it was. When you’re in grade school, you come when the dance is open to the public, back then I was just going to dance and have fun. I think I was just having fun because of the dancing.
“As I got older, I saw what Naz-A-Thon can do. I would see what they were doing and think, ‘Wow, that’s really cool.’ So when I got to high school, I knew Naz-A-Thon was something I’d want to be a part of, and my role has grown every year.”
So has Naz-A-Thon.
Every year, the dance marathon gets bigger and bigger. This year, the 12-hour marathon starts at 8:30 a.m. and goes until 8:30 p.m. No sitting!
“We have a DJ, normally it’s run by a student DJ, but later we have a DJ come and do it for a little while,” Davies said. “We have fun hours, pop music, a country hour, summer hour. It gets everyone excited.
“I like country hour, we wear cowboy hats. Our one committee does a five-minute dance, the morale dance. That’s a specific group of executives, but it’s fun to see the dance and we have fundraisers and you get to learn it. People give hints throughout the year of their morale dance, but nobody knows what it looks like until the day.”
The entire day is a whirlwind, but it’s one every girl in the school circles on their calendar because of how much fun it is. But in reality, the fun is the second-best part of the day.
The best part about Naz-A-Thon is the cause.
According to Nazerth’s website, the cause raised $167,774.32 for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia last year, and over the past decade, it has raised more than $1 million for the hospital.
This year’s dance will donate to the Child Life Department, the Genetics Program and the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
As always, it’s always about the kids!
“It goes to good use, we see through CHOP with our reps that we have made a big impact,” Davies said. “That’s the best part. It goes to people who need it. We have raised over $1 million in 10 years, and that helps. That is a lot of money.
“We get to hear from the people it helps, and that’s fun. The miracle families. Some will come to the school and tell us how the money helped them.
“And sometimes we help kids who go to Nazareth. That’s rewarding, when students at Nazareth who have been impacted by CHOP tell us their story. I don’t know anyone and never had to be treated, but we do have one of my good friends speaking at Naz-A-Thon, she was at CHOP last year, she had something with her brain that she needed help with. Everyone is supporting her. That’s why we do it, to help people who need it.”
There is plenty of work to do, but Davies doesn’t see it that way.
She wants to work with her friends to make sure her final Naz-A-Thon is a memorable one.
“It brings all the students together,” Davies said. “As a freshman you don’t know, but you’re there the full five hours, and such a fun day. And a good cause. It really brings the entire school and the community together. We get so much support from Northeast Philadelphia.
“It’s really not hard at all because we’ve gotten so big, we are the third-highest-ranked high school marathon in the country. There’s so many girls that want to get involved, we normally turn people away. You really have to be dedicated and work hard to get the honor. We ask a lot of them and they always want to help. We are fundraising throughout the year and we get help from so many girls and their families. It’s a huge thing and I’m proud to be part of it.”
