High school students and principals throughout the San Joaquín Valley are currently practicing for an annual competition that could possibly come to a halt.
The High School Principal Lip Sync Contest has been around for 24 years providing thousands of dollars in scholarship money for participating schools. Yet, this year, event organizer El Concilio is in a bind because two of its major sponsors have stepped down.
"The Mary Stuart Rogers Foundation has been major supporters. They've basically been the lead sponsor for it for the last couple of years as well as Bank of America and this year they both said no," said José R. Rodríguez, president and CEO of El Concilio. "Bank of America because the money is not tied to financial literacy, and the Mary Stuart Rogers Foundation because they have other commitments."
Rodríguez hopes other sponsors will step up to the plate before the end of January. If that is not the case, the competition -- which is scheduled for mid February -- will fall through.
The news were not well-received by Patterson High School Principal David Stubbs.
"I hope they let us know very soon if it will be cancelled because they don't understand the time and commitment the students and the staff is putting into this," he said. "If they cancel it, then there's no sense in us practicing."
Long-time competitor Patterson High School and the 2010 state champion, is scheduled to perform Feb. 24.
"I think it'd be sad (if it's cancelled). This is one activity for an underrepresented group of student to perform in public and show the positive side of what they represent in a public matter and not have it would be a travesty. I don't know how else to say it," said Stubbs.
Rodríguez hopes there won't be a need to cancel because he understands the importance of it.
"It is a very important activity for so many schools that participate because it not only provides them scholarships but provides them an opportunity for an afterschool activity and for students to become familiar with their principal on campus," Rodríguez said.
"But if push comes to shove we would have to cancel it because unfortunately we're not in the business for losing money on this event. We basically do it as effort to provide scholarships to these students. If the (non-profit) organization is going to lose money we know that is something that our board of directors will look unfavorable to."
Ángel Jiménez, marketing and public relations director for El Concilio, has helped organized the lip sync contest for a few years and is hoping for a positive outcome.
"The last thing we want to do it cancel the event. We really need the community support on this one," Jiménez said. "We need to reach out to new sponsors because we really want to move forward with the competition."
Those interested in sponsorships can contact Jiménez at (209) 639-2679.
El Concilio recently sent out a letter to all participating schools informing them of the situation.
"They need to know because it is only fair to the schools who are putting time and effort in practicing, in making the expense and putting the design on their costumes and backgrounds. And I wouldn't want them to spend any more time in getting ready for it if it's not going to happen," Rodríguez said.
Julio Bustos -- who has helped Clovis West High School win state titles under three different principals -- wasn't sure how he was going to break the news to the students.
"We see what it has done for the school spirit, for the bonding between Latino students and the principal," said Bustos. "The timing is good in that at least we have not spent any money on backdrops."
Bustos hopes to talk to other principals and advisors about maintaining the competition with scaled-back scholarship money.
"We spend two to three times the scholarship money by the time you add lunches, transportation, backdrops and other costs," said Bustos. "It would become a program for us even if there was no scholarship money."
Bustos believes a scaled-back event could be held in April or May, with participating schools helping defray costs or raising scholarship funds.
For others involved in the competition the news was heartbreaking.
Nisla Fonseca, the Modern Language Department chairperson and dance troupe coach at Tracy High School, who helped launch the lip sync contest and has been heavily involved in the event for years, was not content with the news.
"It would be most unfortunate to not have one because it helps students so much and keeps them going to school," Fonseca said via e-mail. "Yes, sponsorships funds are hard to come by but we make it harder when we don't treat our sponsors properly and so they back out or give us less because they know nothing of what has been done with that money. The students are the future generation and if we could show them what other students have done with a little bit of that money, they would be more willing to give out a little so they can be successful."
Central Valley High School Principal Amy Peterman, last year's defending champion, said she had no comment.
The annual lip sync contest was founded in 1987 by Mike Sturtevant and is organized by El Concilio for the Spanish Speaking.
Each competing school gets $1,000 in scholarships, while the winning schools get $2,500 for first; $2,000 for second place; $1,500 for third place.
The competition requires each school principal to lip sync to a Spanish-language song. They are often accompanied by a cast of student dancers, costumes and elaborate backdrops.
If sponsors are found by the end of this month, Rodríguez said that there would be some changes to the competition in order to minimize costs.
"We would try to condense this event to maybe 2 or 3 contests instead of the usual four as an effort to balance the cost," said Rodríguez.
Another option, he said would be to reduce the price money given out to each participating school.
"I'd hate to do that because it really goes for scholarships but that is just another option just to keep this event going," he said.
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oruiz@vidaenelvalle.com