HARMONY, Pa. – Seneca Valley completed its first ever Lip Dub since 2014 on Friday, ending with a spectacular showcase of the secondary campus cheering in unison “We are SV.” The event, orchestrated by senior Ili James as her senior project and SVTV teacher Mr. McKosky, took about one week of practice and the coordination of dozens of students, teachers, clubs, and school administrators. This coordination included the implementation of several ‘FLEX’ schedule days for practice as well as multiple student volunteers who acted as coordinators for certain sections.
“The lip dub excited me like nothing else,” Ili said over message. “I’m grateful to everyone who was a part of it, even though it involved a lot of work.”
The lip dub had in total nine sections, spanning from the Raider Roast and Senior High gymnasium to the press box at NexTier Stadium. Each section housed different sports and activities, as well as students from their 7th period classes, which were all being overseen by section directors.
Mya Henderson, an 11th grade student who worked as one of the section directors, said that despite some initial apprehension, she later felt more keen acting as a director due to her involvement in such a “unique experience.”
“I think it was fun to work with a diverse group of people on something that impacted everyone,” she stated.
There were also about 47 singers throughout the video, singing to either OneRepublic’s “I Ain’t Worried” or Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten”. The two songs were specifically voted on by SV students, both being meant to have an “uplifting” theme that represented a “good school message”.
Despite some difficulties in having to manage over 3,000 students, Ili says that the Lip Dub shares a very important message: demonstrating who we are.
“[The lip dub] showcases what everyone at SV is all about, along with our individualism and our creativity,” she wrote. “I think it has helped bring our school together, and I’ve received an overwhelming amount of support for which I am truly grateful.”
Ili seems to have ably achieved this goal displaying Seneca Valley’s diversity in the dub, as the video now has over 8,000 views as of Monday. Not only did she complete her senior project, but she also helped harness her large interests in both video production and communications.
“When I realized I could turn this into my senior project, you couldn’t tell me otherwise!”, she exclaimed. “I loved getting to talk to everyone, plan all the little details, and create the storyline with the directors, lip syncers, clubs, sports teams, activities, and the rest of the students and staff at the school.”
The 2024 Seneca Valley Lip Dub is available to watch on YouTube on the official SVTV account @SenecaValleyTV.