Children love to dance, but not all children love to participate in gym class. Students at Harvest Elementary School in Alabama, however, are thankful for their gym teacher, Jared Paschall, because he’s making class fun by incorporating a dance craze that they all love.
The world has been inundated with videos of people dancing to Slientó’s “Watch Me,” but Paschall isn’t necessarily interested in the dance, as much as he’s interested in keeping his students in shape.
“My students ask me daily to play the ‘Whip/Nae Nae’ song while we are doing our lesson,” Paschall told AL.com in August. “Since they loved the song so much and many of them already knew some moves, I decided to incorporate exercise into music and get them excited about doing a cardio workout.”
But it’s not just the Nae Nae being done in class. Paschall has incorporated a whole routine to get those little hearts pumping. The students in the video are doing everything from jumping jacks and lunges to high knees and other workout moves.
“Each Cardio Thursday, I plan a lesson in which the students leave class with sweaty clothes, hearts pumping and legs worn out,” said Paschall. Paschall said the students, who range from kindergarten to fifth grade, are so excited about the workouts, they run to class and try to teach other teachers and even their family members.
Getting kids excited about physical education is no small feat, and it’s no wonder Paschall was named the 2014-2015 Teacher of the Year at Harvest Elementary.