Snow Day? This School’s Announcement Will Make You Smile

It’s snowing again!  Here in southeast Michigan, schools and districts are expected to announce a new round of school closings as the temperature drops and we head back to the deep freeze.

In Burlington, Kentucky, one school principal got tired of hearing himself deliver the same old “School Closing” message after nine school closings in the 2013-14 school year, and he decided to have a little fun.  James Detwiler, principal of Stephens Elementary, enlisted the help of drama teacher Chad Caddell to record a message that was informative yet designed to elicit a chuckle.  The two recorded a message set to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Caddell said of the message, “Good teaching is good theater.  At Stephens we have created a place of laughter and fun. It’s not that we’re not working hard, we are. We take education very seriously, just not ourselves seriously.”

The 52-second video has received nearly a million views on YouTube.  And Katie Couric invited Detweiler to be a guest on her show Tuesday via Skype.  Cincinnati.com reports that after showing the video,  Couric playfully suggested using “Slip Slidin’ Away” or “School’s Out for Winter” for the next school closing video. Detweiler played along, suggesting “Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice as the possibility of an ice storm looms over Greater Cincinnati.