On Feb. 3, JFKMHS hosted a Lip Sync Battle in support of a fundraiser called Rent for Moms. Friends and family of the performers gathered in the auditorium at 6 p.m. to enjoy a two hour long performance. The night consisted of performances from teachers and students dressed up as famous celebrities like Bruno Mars, Destiny’s Child, Lady Gaga, Eminem and Justin Bieber. 

The audience was given two QR codes at the beginning of the night to vote for their favorite teacher and student act. Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Kurowsky, Mrs. Lesniak and Mrs. O’Brien won Best Teacher Performance with a Bruno Mars remix. Freshmen Lucas Monteiro and Anthony Perez won Best Student Performace to “Just Wanna Rock” by Lil Uzi Vert. 

Generating Ideas for a Winning Performance 

The staff on The Torch had the chance to interview Mrs. Smith, a representative from the winning teacher act. 

“OK, there was actually a very ongoing debate about what we should do,” Mrs. Smith states. “The decision was not reached immediately…But then we also wanted to consider what was appropriate and inappropriate. We were watching clips, actually, of The Barden Bellas singing their acapella. We were toying with possibly doing that and then we heard the Bruno Mars section and just kind of, a lightbulb went off. I think it was Ms. O’Brien who said ‘maybe we should just do Bruno Mars’ and then it was unanimous once that suggestion was out there.” 

Behind the Fundraiser 

Ms. Santana, the hosting teacher for the event, chose to donate all of the ticket proceeds to a fundraiser called Rent for Moms. 

“Food drives are great,” Ms. Santana states. “Collecting clothing and jackets is awesome. Toys for Tots- amazing. Those are all great foundations, but the stem of most of those things existing is that a mother is paying her rent first, and then doesn’t have the money [to afford other things], so she goes to the food bank for food, or she looks to Toys for Tots for Christmas. The idea behind this is that if we can relieve one month’s rent for her, then she is able to do something for her own family and have that pride [to be able to say], ‘I bought my kid their own gift.’ Or maybe she gets to go and buy a pizza and have a pizza party for her kids as opposed to getting pre-packaged food that determines what they will eat.”

“Rent for Moms is specifically done off of research after a five year period,” Ms. Santana states. “In the state of New Jersey, African American single mothers had the highest eviction rate out of their homes, so this money specifically goes to African American single moms, and being that it’s Black History Month, it all ties together.”

The Lip Sync Battle was able to successfully raise $1,400 for Rent for Moms.