Like a scene from High School Musical, students and faculty from Naperville North and Waubonsie Valley high schools had their school spirit on full display in recently released lip dub videos.
Shot in one continuous take, the lip dubs feature teens walking through the halls, surrounded by crowds of their peers, lip-syncing to student-voiced songs.
The Waubonsie Valley Warriors sang along to original songs created by assistant principal of student services Ryan VanKampen, while the Huskies sang reworked popular songs with school-specific lyrics written by several faculty members.
“It was awesome. I had a smile on my face the whole time. It was nice seeing all my friends from all different sports and clubs all having a great time with me,” said Naperville North senior Luke Bouska during the filming of their lip dub on April 23.
Huskies continue tradition of lip dub
At Naperville North, the lip dub has been a tradition for more than a decade, first starting in 2012 and then produced every four years, except in 2020, when the video was halted until 2022.
Planning for this year’s video began in August 2025 and was led by faculty members and more than 30 student leaders from different sports and clubs.
This year, the Huskies remixed songs like “Golden” from the movie “K-Pop Demon Hunters” and “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar.
“Our students show up when we ask them to, and they went beyond what we even hoped for. They were ready. They brought energy and excitement,” said Sean Williams, dean of student activities at Naperville North High School.
For some seniors, it was a great chance to show love for their school one last time before graduating last weekend.
“Having the lip dub…brought us all together, made us realize how our sports, our theater, our clubs could all work together to make this amazing school that we call home,” said Naperville North senior Shania Tandon.
Waubonsie Valley Lip Dub helps celebrate 50th anniversary
At Waubonsie Valley High School, the lip dub returned for the third time, first done in 2014 and again in 2017.
“We had high hopes to do one in 2020, and then COVID shut us down. And we were really looking for the right time to bring it back, and with our 50th anniversary being this year, we thought what better time to do it than now,” said VanKampen.
It took several months to organize the production, and more than a week to record and mix students’ vocals, VanKampen said, but it was worth it to memorialize the moment and the school, which is undergoing construction.
“The school that you see in this year’s lip dub is not the school that you’ll be able to see ever again. Some of our key areas, like our cafeteria, that were featured in the lip dub, are already gone,” said VanKampen.
“So just to be able to have that keepsake, it’s been really nice. And to hear alumni look back at it, watch the video, and say it looks just the same as when I was there, it is really cool, knowing that it won’t look like that ever again.”
School officials said the productions were a great way to bring all students together for one final celebration before the summer break.
Both Naperville North and Waubonsie Valley’s full videos are available to watch on YouTube.
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