Snow days for the 91原创 school district are over for now as temperatures warm up, but during the school closures on Monday (Feb. 11) and Tuesday (Feb. 12), a 91原创 principal had some fun with the snow day announcement.
Kendra Simonetto, James Hill Elementary (JHE) principal released a music video parody to the theme of a 1990s hip-hop rap song Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice.
Simonetto starts the rap with the made-up lyrics, 鈥淵o, JHE, let鈥檚 kick it. Alright stop, bundle up and listen. Snow is back with an unforeseen vengeance.鈥�
鈥淚f I can do something silly and make kids and parents laugh, it鈥檚 totally worth it to me,鈥� Simonetto said.
The video was in response to Chris Wejr, principal of Aldergrove鈥檚 Shortreed Elementary school, who earlier released a snow day announcement by singing a slow ballad parody to Home by Michael Buble.
鈥淐hris posted a video earlier in the day, and said 鈥榦kay, who鈥檚 next?鈥� He was the principal here [at JHE] for the last four years, and created a culture of connectedness in this school,鈥� explained Simonetto, who just started her principal role at JHE last September.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 really a challenge, but more of a response. This is a great thing for the kids, so it just made sense.鈥�
After being posted to the James Hill Elementary School Facebook page on Tuesday, Simonetto鈥檚 video has exceeded 20,000 views.
Simonetto admitted she does have musical experience as she sings and has taught music her whole life.
Rapping, however, was a new challenge.
鈥淚 was like, 鈥榟ow do I step out of my comfort zone?鈥� So rapping is definitely out of my comfort zone,鈥� she laughed.
Following the two snow days, Simonetto said the school鈥檚 custodial and maintenance crew have been 鈥渁wesome鈥� at ensuring snow is cleared.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 realize it鈥檚 so much work, but they did an outstanding job,鈥� she added.
According to a Shortreed Elementary Facebook post, Michael Buble鈥檚 agent offered the school two tickets to his upcoming show in response to the video.
Other principals and superintendents around B.C. also posted 鈥榮now day鈥� songs via social media.
In response to Simonetto and Wejr鈥檚 snow day videos, the 91原创 School District administration team posted a 鈥榃elcome Back, 91原创鈥� video on Thursday, Feb. 14 when schools re-opened. Superintendent Gord Stewart, secretary treasurer Brian Iseli, assistant superintendents Mal Gill, Woody Bradford, Barry Bunyan, and director of instruction Dawn Tomlinson joined together to create the parody of the 1970s sitcom theme song , Welcome Back, Kotter.
from on .
