Lake City students 'Don't Stop Believin'

COEUR d'ALENE — Lake City High School was alive with commotion Friday morning.

A voice hollered above the hubbub, “Here we go, guys!” and a hush rushed over everything.

And when “Don’t Stop Believin’” began to play, the school came back to life, bursting with confetti, tinsel, wigs, face paint, balloons, pompoms, costumes, Silly String and glitter in an explosion of Timberwolf pride.

KSNG Multimedia Group member and LCHS junior Johnny Tarnoff, 17, navigated through the hallways with a camera as students, teachers, faculty members and a few special guests, including Coeur d'Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer, participated in the LCHS Green Dot Lip Dub video. They lip-synched and danced to the famous Journey song in an effort to unify the school while sending out a powerful message against bullying.

Senior Damian Daugherty, 17, wore a cow costume and rode his unicycle for the lip dub. He said he thought it went really well.

“I’m in Anime Club, so we’re just weird,” he said, referring to his attire. "We were loud, but it’s school spirit,” he continued. “I love it. I’m just sad that this is my last year doing it, that’s why I stepped it up a notch with the unicycle.”

Green Dot, Etc., is a violence prevention movement that utilizes the power of peer and cultural influence throughout society. Green Dot works to raise awareness, education and skills practice in proactive behaviors and establish an intolerance of violence, challenging people to be active bystanders. The Stand Up, Speak Out campaign was at the heart of LCHS' 2013 lip dub and also highlighted anti-bullying and the power of uniting students to stand up for each other. The school's theme is "Be kind."

“I think this is probably one of the coolest things that we do,” said senior Hailey McCormick, 17, who serves as the school's mascot. She wore her gray furry T-Wolf costume for the lip dub.

"I think that when we do it, it totally brings us as a whole school together," she said. "Rather than just saying we’re a whole school, it totally unifies and shows that we’re one big happy family.”

McCormick said she feels her school is helping the community to understand the importance of anti-bullying.

“My brother went here and he passed away and that was a big moment for them, I think, as a school, so that totally brought a whole new light to the anti-bullying thing," she said. "I think that Lake City tries their hardest to put things together like this and all the other stuff that everybody is a part of that really represents anti-bullying. I think they’ve done a really good job of doing that.”

Senior and ASB treasurer Dominic Conigliaro, 17, timed the camera movement to the music and planned the route the camera and music crew followed as they weaved throughout the nearly 1,700 students and 100 faculty and staff. When the lip dub was complete, everyone gathered in the gym to sing Lake City's school song and let out mighty T-Wolf roars.

“Hearing that final cheer gives you goose bumps because you can hear it echo throughout the gym,” Conigliaro said. “It’s just cool because it creates such a feeling of unity. Everyone comes together to have some fun for a while.”

The lip dub was planned and organized by the LCHS Student Council and has been in the works for a few months. Senior and ASB secretary Mackenzie Danly, 17, said students have been learning about Green Dot through presentations in the weeks leading up to the big event.

"I think a lot of people understand why we’re doing it,” she said. “I really recommend doing a lip dub if you’re in high school, it’s a lot of fun and it brings everyone together.”

After the massive endeavor concluded, student council adviser Mallory Cook had confetti and glitter in her hair and a huge smile on her face.

“I almost want to start crying,” she said. "These kids, holy cow, to get almost 1,700 kids to listen to me plus 100 staff members to listen and do the same thing in four minutes correctly blew my mind, I still can’t even get over it. I’m so blessed to work at such a great school.

"We have kids in different groups, different economic levels, just different social groups and they’re all coming together as one, to create one thing," she continued. "These kids are going to walk away feeling so proud of themselves and feeling like they did something as a whole. People might think a lip dub seems weird and silly, but the overall impact on the school that it has is phenomenal. They’re going to remember this and this positive experience all year and all next year.”

Cook said the 2015 LCHS Green Dot Lip Dub should be on YouTube and the school's website, www.lchs.cdaschools.org, by Thanksgiving.