Erie Elementary Lip Dub Tells NCA Review Team: 'We Are Family'

When staff at Erie Elementary were told they needed to prepare a welcome presentation for a visit from the North Central Association's Quality Assurance Review team, they knew a PowerPoint just wasn't their style.

"The QAR team asked for a presentation to welcome them–something to show them what the school does, what its mission is and that," said Erie music teacher Erica Latowski. "So we decided to do a lip dub to show them our school and its students."

More than 600 Erie students and staff took part in the filming and Latowski said "We Are Family," the video's lead song, can still be heard in Erie's halls.

"We wanted something that had great lyrics that would tell everyone that we worked together, that we’re united," Latowski said. "We felt (the song) reflected our personalities here and the chorus is catchy, one that most people here would know and could sing. It tells the story of us being a family and working together here."

The video took several weeks to plan, with Latowski and fellow Erie teacher Janet Frye taking point on the organization.

"We timed the song out to the second and knew what every teacher was going to say and where the kids would be placed," Latowski said. "We did four complete takes and it was the fourth one that was the best."

Because a lip dub must be filmed in one continuous shot, Erie left the camera work to Chippewa Valley cable guy Nick Mott. Latowski herself edited in the soundtrack and packaged the final video for the QAR visit.

"We were thrilled with the results, they were thrilled, and it was pretty amazing watching it unfold," she said. "We saw 100 percent effort from everyone working at Erie. Every person at our building helped and they’re still singing it." 

Now on YouTube, the video is nearing 2,000 views, including one from the Department of Education in Washington, D.C.

The NCA accredits thousands of public and private schools throughout the U.S. During this accreditation process, schools are visited by a quality assurance review team of educators from outside the district or school under review.