Photo courtesy of Maddy Schaible

In late November, West students rang in one of their most beloved traditions: Spirit Week. Each grade was assigned a different decade as its theme and for the entirety of a school week, they prepared to battle for the greatest prize of all—bragging rights. The Class of 2023, the Seniors, were assigned the 1970s. The Juniors were given the 1980s, the Sophomores the 2000s, and the Freshmen the 1950s.  Each grade fought its way through Musical Chairs, Spikeball, Cornhole, and other competitions. They donated canned goods to the National Honor Society’s Thanksgiving food drive for points and participated in festivities such as themed dress-up days.

However, on November 21st, the classes were faced with the greatest challenge of the week: The Lip Sync Battle. Each grade was tasked with organizing a 10-minute dance and choral routine to be performed in front of a live audience of students, parents, and staff. The performance had to be in accordance with their designated decade. The Freshmen performed a medley of songs from Grease, while the other grades focused on general mash-ups of music. The Sophomores took to the stage with Britney Spears’ “Oops!…I did it again” and “Hey Ya” by OutKast, and the Seniors staged ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” and War’s “Low Rider”. Nevertheless, the Juniors took home the crown, and 40 Spirit Week points, with their renditions of “Don’t Stop Believin”, “Uptown Girl”, “Thriller”, and more.

Winning the Battle took a lot of effort, the Class of 2024 emphasized. Triumphant choreographer Skylar Murphy described her grade’s rigorous rehearsal schedule: “The week leading up to the Lip Sync we were in Jones’ lobby every day practicing during the LBs and for 2 hours after school one day.” Ben Manns added that the Juniors, “rehearsed very often and as much as we could.” The Seniors, however–coming in third place–only practiced “once a week for two weeks in the Choir room” according to team member, Natalie Fournier. Some even struggled to attend these meetings, albeit their rareness. Jodie Camba said, “I wasn’t able to go to all the rehearsals for academic and other reasons.”

The Sophomores took second place on the 21st, awarding their grade 30 Spirit Week points. Their journey to triumph was similar to the Juniors’, but a bit less strenuous; “Normally we learned one song per lunch period or after school,” explained Maddy Schaible. 

The Juniors did not attribute their success to their intense rehearsal regimen. Instead, they looked with admiration at their choreographer. “We would have been nowhere without Skylar. Her choreography and knowledge of dance and theater really helped us know where to go and when,” gushed Abby Ryan. Benjamin Manns agreed, noting, “Our main choreographer Skylar did a great job teaching us the moves.” 

Murphy remained humble in the face of her achievement. She accredited the success of the choreography to her peers: “The choreography came to me pretty easily, especially with the number of kids in my class who participated.” Nevertheless, she was still thrilled to see her own ideas manifest before her eyes. She described the scene as euphoric, saying, “I loved seeing all my ideas and everything come together on stage that day.” 

Although the other grades succumbed to the victory of the Junior class, each student recognized the experience as wondrous nonetheless. Choreographer for the Class of 2023, Jill Saperstein, said “there was such a fun energy going around the stage. I really enjoyed it.” Sophomore Rebekah Bruesehoff noted the sense of pride she felt during and after her performance: “We had some shaky moments in the process but when we walked onto the stage it went better than we had rehearsed it and everyone was really proud.” 

The Lip Sync Battle is an opportunity for growth in students socially and emotionally. Maddy Schaible explained that she met many new friends in the process of curating the performance: “I got to meet different people and I was able to really connect with them.” Benjamin Manns mentioned that Lip Sync was his opportunity to break away from the safety net he had been stuck in: “I love getting on stage and out of my comfort zone.”

The students involved in the West Lip Sync should remain confident in the notion that even if they don’t Spirit Week overall, they have won a whole lot more by simply being a part of this incredible event. One can only assume these memories, and these sentiments, will last a lifetime.