'Don't Stop Believing:' Berrien Co. students participate in fun Friday night challenge

BERRIEN COUNTY, Mich. --- One Michiana school district is getting creative to keep students entertained while they’re out of school.

The challenge? Which Berrien County school could get the most people out of their home to blast the Journey hit song Don’t Stop Believin’.  

“This is probably our new normal for the next couple weeks so we have to be creative,” Shane Peters with Bridgman Public School said, who spearheaded the challenge.

Friday’s fun ended with a tie between the Bridgman Bees and the Lakeshore Lancers.

The idea for the social media challenge was to grab a speaker, open your front door, and blast the catchy tune. Then, post a video or picture of yourself to the Facebook event page. Both the Bridgman Bees and the Lakeshore Lancers had 46 posts each.

“You know we put it on social media, my colleagues in St. Joe, Lakeshore, Eau Claire, Coloma, and Niles have sent messages to their student bodies to join the challenge,” Peters said.

The challenge made a Friday night under state-wide stay at home orders in Michigan a little more interesting. By the end of the night, there were hundreds of posts of people jamming out.

 “All the news that comes out of COVID-19 is all very serious and so this hopefully will break some of that ice and just get people to smile and laugh and be goofy and get some friendly competition going between neighboring communities,” Peters said.  “We have to stay positive during this time. We have to adhere to the governor’s orders to stay safe and healthy but it doesn’t mean that we still can’t have fun.”

To settle the tie, there will be another showdown next Friday night between the Bridgman Bees and the Lakeshore Lancers. The next song for the challenge will be Lean On Me by Bill Withers.

The details are still to come, visit the Bridgman Public Schools Facebook page for any updates.