CHATSWORTH, Ga. — North Georgia residents who watch the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on television next week may notice some familiar faces: members of the Murray County High School dance team.

And their participation in the parade is only one element of a week-long stay in New York City, said Tara Jones, who coaches the dance team. A dozen dancers of the 16-member squad will make the trip to and from Gotham by train, and they’ll depart Georgia on Friday.

“I want to see what else is out there, outside of Murray County,” said junior Emily Sanford. “I also want to hear all the different accents and compare them to ours.”

The dance team was sent a pair of routines to perform for the parade, as well as Christmas-themed uniforms.

“They’re really cute,” senior Gracie Fenwick said of the routines. “They’re simple, but fast.”

As for the outfits, “they’re adorable,” Fenwick said. “I like the sparkles.”

The dance team sent an audition tape to Spirit of America Productions in early July and were quickly notified they’d won a spot in the parade, Jones said. In addition to their role in the parade, the trip is full of special opportunities, including visiting the National September 11 Memorial & Museum and the Statue of Liberty, taking in a performance of the famous Rockettes inside Radio City Music Hall and viewing a Broadway play.

“I love seeing shows on Broadway,” said sophomore Kennedy Ryan, who visited New York on a class trip while in the eighth grade. “I saw ‘Aladdin,’ and it was so good.”

“You can’t go wrong with any Broadway show,” added Landri Sparks, who has been to the Big Apple three times. “They’re all good.”

Members of the dance team are literally counting the days until they depart for The City That Never Sleeps, Ryan said. “We put (the countdown) on all our Instagram stories.”

Jones has taken other squads to the Empire City for trips, and Murray County’s dance team isn’t unaccustomed to travel, as they’ve performed during halftime of the Citrus Bowl in Orlando the past couple of years, but only a few members of this squad have been to New York City, including sophomores Sparks and Ryan.

Though “it’s very busy, it’s the best place I’ve ever been,” Sparks said. “It’s my favorite.”

“I loved New York,” Ryan said, “I’ll remember that trip for the rest of my life.”

While some fear a frigid week in the northeast, Ryan is hoping for those conditions, she said. “I love rain and cold.”

Sparks, in her fourth year as part of the dance team, has already shared some tips for life in the big city with her dancemates.

“Stay together, and don’t try talking to random people,” she said. In addition, “you have to have a schedule, or you won’t get anything done.”

Finally, she told them to “give up on sweet tea,” she said with a smile. “You’re not getting sweet tea for a week.”

While in the city, the dance team members will take a bus to visit several historical sites, Jones said. In addition, most members of the dance team have at least one, if not both, parents accompanying them on the trip.

“This is a family, not just a team, and to be able to do this as a family, and with their real families, you couldn’t ask for a better dream to come true,” Jones said. “We had to raise a lot of money to be able to take this trip, and the community has really helped us.”

The only drawback to spending Thanksgiving away from home is missing traditional family festivities, but that’s a compromise Sanford can live with, she said. “You can always reschedule getting together, but you can’t really reschedule the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.”

Tinlee Roe, a junior, has been dancing for 13 years, but this is her first year on the dance team for her school.

“I heard they were competing this year, and I wanted to join,” Roe said. “It’s fun — rough, but fun.”

This is the first year of competitions for the Murray County High School dance team, and, next year, dance will be officially recognized as a sport by the Georgia High School Association, Jones said, noting, “It’s a long time coming.”

Indeed, dance is “a lot of work,” said Sanford. “They should (recognize) it as a sport.”

Between official recognition and the invitation to perform on national television as part of a quintessential piece of Americana like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the high school’s dancers hope to gain more esteem from their classmates.

“Everyone keeps asking if we’re really going to be on TV,” Sanford said. “Yes, we’re really going to be on TV.”

The parade started in 1924, and it’s been televised live by NBC since 1948. More details on the parade can be found online at www.macys.com/social/parade/lineup.

“I’m less worried about performing in front of so many people than dancing on TV,” Roe said. “I just hope I feel all right.”

Dance team members are proud to demonstrate their skills to a massive audience.

Some “don’t feel what we do is a sport,” Sparks said. “People don’t realize how much work it takes.”

To which Ryan added, “It’s better to be with this family than to listen to those people, (because) they’re wrong.”

“I like having this group of girls,” Ryan said. “We can always go to each other.”

Sparks echoed those sentiments, saying, “This is the best team I’ve ever been on.”

“These girls are so easy to get along with,” Sparks continued. “It will be easy to spend a week with them.”

In addition to their regular dance team duties, including halftime performances at home football and basketball games, the dancers “give back to the community,” Jones said. For example, “We’re ‘buddies’ at the Miracle League” of Whitfield County.

This is Sanford’s first year on the dance team, though she’s been a dancer for 13 years.

“It’s always something I wanted to be a part of,” she said. “My high school career is coming to an end, and I want to try to experience everything I can,” including the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Part of the charm of the parade is meeting other participants, from marching bands to rock stars, Jones said. The last time she took a group for the parade, in 2014, they were in the float directly behind the band Kiss.

“These girls are going to do an awesome job, and we’re going to show them what Murray County is made of,” Jones said. “How many kids get to say they’ve been in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?”