HOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. (WNCN) -- Dozens of dancers from central North Carolina are getting a special opportunity this holiday season. High school students from the Holly Springs School of Dance will perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The 69 girls had their first rehearsal Sunday night, after having the choreography for just two days. "You just got to drill it over and over again until you get it right,” said senior Georgia Outlaw. Outlaw is one of the few girls who has done this all before. “Walking down the streets of New York on Thanksgiving morning and seeing everyone just beaming at us. I mean, you feel like a celebrity walking down the street, so it's really fun,” she remembered. This is the eighth time students from the Holly Springs School of Dance will be in the parade in the last 20 years. Director Marilyn Chappell remembers the first time she took kids. “We had 12 girls, and I was so excited and nervous at the same time. And now I just I love it so much because I know what a magical experience it is for the kids,” Chappell said. Freshman Cammie Jones is feeling the same way. “I was a little bit nervous because we definitely got the choreography later than they did last time, but I think it's coming together pretty good,” she said at Sunday’s rehearsal. This is her first year in the parade after watching it on TV for years. “I was really excited that I get to be in the parade now, and I get to have other little kids watch me and be inspired,” Jones said. Sunday night was not just the first rehearsal. The girls – and their families – also saw their costumes for the first time. Now, it is the final stretch. "Just keep the energy up and push past the tiredness because it's all worth it in the end,” Outlaw said. The dancers have eight more rehearsals in Holly Springs before they head to New York and jump right into rehearsals with dancers from around the country.