Seniors at Libertyville are upset that their voices aren’t being heard, in a way. Technically, it’s the voices of various musicians that accompany the dances and moving mouths at Libertyville’s lip sync competition. But all technicalities aside, students are itching to get out and strut their stuff.
The contest began as part of the Wildcat Football Parents Association’s (WFPA) annual Kickoff Dance. Originally held in the middle of the football season, the lip sync contest generated several groups of participants ready to put on a show for their peers. However, WFPA gradually pushed up the date of the dance, and accordingly the contest. Since students had to scramble to form groups and rehearse the dances at the start of the year, student participation steadily declined.
“The start of the year is a busy time for students, and adding the lip sync contest was a lot to pile on,” said Mrs. Jennifer Uliks, director of student activities.
Last year, only one group opted to compete in the lip sync contest, leading to the removal of the contest in 2013. This year’s seniors feel confident that they would put on a show for their peers if they had the chance. Unfortunately they never got the opportunity; WFPA chose not to host the contest at this year’s dance.
“I think people would have come up with some good routines and put time into them,” senior Matt Reed said.
Seniors have voiced their desire to have the contest return. Spirited senior Mariah Wilbat has been outspoken about her disappointment in the cancellation of the contest.
“The senior class is pretty upset about what has happened. They have taken everything fun away,” Wilbat stated.
In a year where the seniors have had restrictions placed on the annual first day water balloon war zone and the popular Homecoming entrances, the end of the lip sync contest is icing on the cake.
Seniors shouldn’t lose all hope. The mood is optimistic that the contest will make a grand return sometime this winter.
“I think there’s an excellent chance it could still happen…possibly around the Turnabout assembly,” Mrs. Uliks said.
The keystone piece to making the contest happen lies in the hands of LHS organizations. Some type of club will need to sponsor the event. The top candidate for taking on this role will fall in the hands of Student Council.
“If we have enough students showing interest in participating in the contest, Student Council will gladly host it…we would most likely host it during a fundraising or sports event,” said Student Council Executive Board President Shannon Roche.
If the contest does make its grand return this winter, seniors have set the bar high for what to expect.
“Our grade has a reputation for going over the top,” senior Johnny Vernasco shared. “I think we would have been hilarious!”
