With three words, a drop of the mic and a roar from the crowd behind him, Western Springs District 101 superintendent Brian Barnhart may have been as close to rock star status as any school superintendent has ever been.
On Friday, District 101 finished its shooting of the Carpool Karaoke Challenge thrown its way by Pleasantdale Elementary District 107 last month — and the Western Springs educators responded in a big way.
The video was posted Wednesday on the school district’s Facebook page.
Running administrators, dancing faculty members and bleachers of cheering students were all part of the video’s finale shot shortly before dismissal Friday at McClure Junior High School.
“Carpool Karaoke 101” was Barnhart’s short, but powerful, close just prior to his mic drop in the video which has administrators dancing in various locations, including Western Springs businesses, to Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling.”
Barnhart said the video was a fun experience for him, other administrators and district staff after the plan for the video was determined and logistics were worked out.
“It was seriously like a burden for a week and a half because we came up with 47 ideas and then it started to come together,” Barnhart laughed after the final video shoot.
The editing of the video still was being finished by a District 101 parent as of Monday.
More Top Picks Asus Rog Strix G16 Review
“We thought we were just going to do karaoke and we had different vehicles set up,” Barnhart said. “Then we figured out for 2 minutes and 49 seconds before the dance sequence, we would be pretty boring just doing carpool karaoke.”
Barnhart said administrators tried to mirror much of what Timberlake does in his “Can’t Stop the Feeling” video.
“You’ll see we stole some things there,” the superintendent said. “So, it ended up being way more fun than we thought it was going to be.”
McClure social studies teacher Anna Federman handled the choreography of the 25 faculty members on the gym floor.
“Well, I watched the video and choreographed it based on the video,” Federman said. “Justin Timberlake lays a good base.”
She said she had no idea how long it took her to map out the faculty’s dance moves.
“I really like doing it so it wasn’t that much effort, but it was a lot of fun,” Federman said. “It was a very good bonding moment for the staff. They really had a good time.”
District 101 is passing the Carpool Karaoke Challenge forward individually to all other Lyons Township elementary districts.
The challenge started when District 107 superintendent Dave Palzet and three other administrators took a page out of the “Late Late Show with James Corden” script and did their own Carpool Karaoke, donning costumes and lip syncing to Queen’s “We Will Rock You.”
At the end of the video, Palzet put the challenge to District 101 to make a video as well.
The Pleasantdale video got 9,000 views, including hits overseas. It can be found by searching Carpool Karaoke Challenge and Pleasantdale 107 on YouTube.
“The goal was to infuse fun into the beginning of the school year. We wanted something that was novel and unique,” Palzet said after the district’s video went viral. “I am surprised it has been so popular.”
Kevin Beese is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press