On Saturday, first-year students will have the opportunity to participate in a favorite campus tradition, NOVAdance. For many of these students, it will culminate their experience as a “Sidekick.”
Sidekicks is a year-long opportunity for freshmen to join the NOVAdance community, raise awareness about pediatric cancer, and participate in fundraising efforts that benefit the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation.
The 2025-26 Sidekicks team is composed of senior Lily Pflaum, junior Micah Bory, and sophomores London Lindley and Maddie Alesso. These four leaders are responsible for leading a record-high 180 first-year students in the program.
“Last year I was on Sidekicks, and I really loved it,” Lindley said. “I thought it was just such a moving and special experience. It’s just been such an amazing opportunity to see all the Sidekicks grow and really learn to love the organization as much as I have.”
Since October, Sidekicks have been required to attend weekly meetings. Each Monday night, they have the opportunity to meet one another, engage with NOVAdance Committee Members, and prepare for both upcoming organization events and the day of.
“We typically start every meeting with a ‘Motivational Monday,’ which is just a reminder, a little description of one of B+ heroes just to ground ourselves in why all of these people are gathered here on a Monday night at 9 p.m.,” Bory said. “Then it kind of varies what we get into, depending on what we have for the week. So I would say it’s half informational about what’s happening in the upcoming weeks, and then half activity-based.”
In addition to the meetings, each Sidekick is responsible for raising $167. This fundraising amount represents the 167 days that the B+ Foundation’s namesake, Andrew McDonough, battled cancer.
Sidekicks are also encouraged to participate in additional NOVAdance events, such as B+ Hero parties, to learn more about the organization and form bonds with one another and the B+ heroes.
“We also have retreats in the fall and the spring, which not only is a great bonding experience for the Sidekicks, for them to all get to know each other, but it also helps to ground them in their whys and the reason why they join NOVAdance and are getting involved,” Alesso said.
Throughout the year, Sidekicks strive toward their individual fundraising goals. However, they also work together to meet their collective $150,000 goal on the day of.
“One of our goals, especially this year, is to give them a more hands-on experience with planning fundraising events,” Lindley said. “We held a Sidekicks Jogathon where we raised a bunch of money for the Sidekicks, and they had the really big role of spreading the message of NOVAdance around campus, especially trying to reach other freshmen.”
On the Day Of, Sidekicks will be in attendance for the 12-hour duration and have the chance to experience all of the different themed hours inside the Cabrini Dixon Center.
“It’s different this year because NOVAdance is on Cabrini and we’ve never had NOVAdance on Cabrini either, which I think is kind of reassuring for them,” Pflaum said.
Many of the Sidekicks are also looking forward to participating in the first-ever “Sidekicks Hour” during Hour 4 and competing in the Lip Sync Competition during Hour 10.
“We’ve just tried to stress that they’ve worked so hard for about six months,” Pflaum said. “This is just kind of a time to like watch your work come to life and really just take a minute to appreciate what they’ve done and the kind of impact that they’re having.”
In between fundraising and dancing, Sidekicks will also have the chance to visit the Reflection Room to learn more about the foundation’s work, engage with B+ Heroes and witness the greater Villanova community come together to support the mission of the B+ Foundation.
“I remember last year when I was a Sidekick, my leaders were trying to explain what the Day Of would be like, and I didn’t quite get it,” Alesso said. So the one thing I could hope for is that everything just clicks and falls into place, and our Sidekicks really get grounded in their ‘why’ and really just dive in.”
The Day Of will serve as both a celebration of months of fundraising and outreach efforts and a starting point for many Sidekicks’ futures with NOVAdance in the coming years.
