Chris Wejr, principal of Shortreed Community Elementary in Aldergrove, continued his tradition of snow day videos when Langley was blanketed in more than a foot of snow on Wednesday, Jan. 17.
With the schools closed and empty of staff and students, Wejr filled the halls with his own lyrics about the weather over Miley Cyrus鈥� 鈥淧arty in the U.S.A.鈥�
This year鈥檚 song selection was picked to be more upbeat than previous years, Wejr told the Langley Advance Times, and he also wanted to pick a song that kids and parents would recognize.
The video starts with a panorama shot of the front of the school building, before transitioning to Wejr standing by his car and then his snow blower.
鈥淭his is all so crazy, everybody is at home today!鈥� Wejr sang when he walked out of the school and fell back into the built up snow.
Wejr said he picked multiple spots around the school to sing because Cyrus sings the whole song herself and moves a lot, a difference from his previous videos.
He added that she also has her hands up often, so he wanted to mimic the moves.
鈥淭he basketball scene was a repeat of last year, but [there was] a request from some students to do it again if there was another video,鈥� he shared.
The idea for the snow day videos started in 2019, when Wejr was working with the school鈥檚 former vice-principal Mark Touzeau during a two-day district-wide school closure due to snow.
鈥淗e showed me the power of video to help create a positive culture at the school. If the video shows some vulnerability, as clearly I鈥檓 not a singer, and makes some people smile it is great for the culture of school,鈥� he said.
For his lyrics, Wejr said he scrambles in the morning to put relevant words together for a song.
鈥淚 love seeing the kids when they get back to school and bug me about [the videos]. It just adds a fun element to my work,鈥� he laughed.
And for anyone wondering, Wejr said his bandaged pinky finger that can be seen in the video is due to a lost battle with an exacto knife but he is okay.
On Thursday, Jan. 18, as schools were closed for a second day due to weather, Wejr posted a second video giving tips to other principals or teachers who might be interested in making a snow day video like his.
鈥淎 huge thank you to district maintenance crews who never get a snow day,鈥� he said.
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