What do you get when you put four school administrators in a car with wigs, sunglasses, a guitar, a microphone and a camera?
A Pleasantdale School District 107 carpool karaoke video.
Taking a page from the popular segment on “The Late, Late Show with James Corden” where celebrities sing in the car with the show’s host, District 107 Superintendent Dave Palzet and three other administrators created a video in which they lip sync to Queen’s “We Will Rock You.”
“The goal was to infuse fun into the beginning of the school year. We wanted to do something that was novel and unique,” Palzet said. “I am surprised it has been so popular.”
Palzet said analytics show that between Facebook and YouTube, the video has been viewed more than 9,000 times, including by individuals in Europe.
“People are forwarding it to family members,” Palzet said about the video going viral.
The superintendent said that the video, which also includes Pleasantdale Elementary School principal Matt Vandercar, Pleasantdale Middle School principal John Glimco and Pleasantdale Middle assistant principal Meg Knapik, was made in just two takes.
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“I’d seen a couple similar things on Facebook and I said, ‘We could do that,'” Palzet said. “I then played around a little with getting my phone mounted on the dashboard.”
A half-hour of video shooting along Wolf Road and 45 minutes of editing created the District 107 carpool karaoke piece.
“It’s a fun, silly little video,” Palzet said. “There is nothing political to it. We’ve gotten a positive response from parents. We just wanted to show school administrators in a different light.”
The video includes a second-grade joke told by Vandercar and the administrators making fun of their own industry, with Palzet, at one point, asking passengers if they are ready for their “big meeting where we come up with new acronyms in educational jargon.”
Palzet said his and other administrators’ acting careers may not be done just yet. He said he would like to make a creative video to announce a District 107 snow day this winter.
“That’s our next challenge,” the superintendent laughed.
At the end of the carpool video, Palzet challenges Western Springs Elementary District 101 to make a video as well.
“We wanted to pick another Lyons Township district and they are kind of our counterpart,” Palzet said. “I know Brian (Barnhart, superintendent of District 101) and I thought it would be something he would pick up and run with.”
The Western Springs school district has, in fact, picked up the challenge.
“(Pleasantdale) did a great job getting things rolling,” Barnhart said. “We will try to keep the momentum going and pay it forward.”
He said District 101 will also continue the challenge portion of the video by calling on another area district to respond.
Barnhart said with so many things occurring at the beginning of the school year, time is at a premium.
“Our biggest challenge has been finding time to get together (to plan the video),” Barnhart said. “We were able to get together late Friday afternoon. We talked about doing it this week, but there wasn’t a time when everyone could get together.”
District 101’s video is expected to be shot Sept. 27. Barnhart hopes to have the District 101 video posted the following day.
Barnhart is keeping details of the production close to the vest, but did say it will start with the district’s nine-person administrative team and “end with a lot more people.”
The District 101 superintendent said performers will not be costumed as the District 107 lip syncing crew was.
“I was a little creeped out by that,” Barnhart laughed. “Plus, I don’t look as good in a wig as Dave does.”
The Pleasantdale video can be viewed at youtu.be/8UQUIEhkgso.
Kevin Beese is a freelance writer for Pioneer Press.