Students at Bellevue Elementary School had no idea what was about to take place when they filed into the gymnasium for the annual Holiday Hoopla on Dec. 19, just before Christmas break. Things were just getting underway when a familiar tune started pumping from the speakers. The song, What Does The Fox Say — a viral sensation that has flooded the Internet this past year — grabbed their full attention.
As if the music wasn’t enough, staff member after the next, each donning the appropriate animal costume, came flying into the gym. By the end, 23 staff members had performed a full-on flash mob style rendition of the song that had students standing up to dance along.
“We do different things throughout the year … monthly Jr. Broncos celebrations,” said Scott Belt Bellevue Community Schools superintendent and Bellevue Elementary School principal. “I’ve always had the philosophy that you work really hard and there is a time to play too. Kids need to see that.”
The staff certainly played hard during the assembly. Following the lead of At Risk parapro Shawn Holt — who also teaches dance and physical fitness classes — all but two teachers participated in the choreographed dance number. Holt said she came up with the idea to do something fun for the kids after she offered to run a physical fitness boot camp for teachers after arriving in the Bellevue School District last year.
“I had 30 teachers come out for it and stick with it,” Holt said. “I thought if that many teachers here can show that kind of commitment, we could really do something fun.”
She knew What Does The Fox Say was really popular with kids and once teachers started getting on board with the idea, she knew it would be a success. Participants practiced every Wednesday for about 45 minutes for eight weeks to learn the choreography.
“Every single teacher on the staff that could participate did,” Holt said. “It was unbelievable that we got that much response from the staff.”
One of the teachers from Bellevue High School volunteered to record the routine and upload it to YouTube. The video has since received close to 15,000 views.
“It really is a pleasure to be working in Bellevue right now,” Belt said. “Overall there’s a great attitude and support.”
You can view the video on YouTube by searching What Does The Fox Say Bellevue Edition.
