This teacher's viral dance moves took TikTok by storm

FRESNO, Calif. -- When it comes to TikTok dances, you don't often see the teachers outshine the kids - but one California educator did just that.

One Friday afternoon, Austin LeMay, the Campus Culture Director at Tenaya Middle School in Fresno, joined a group of dancing teens out on the campus courtyard, as they grooved to the 'You're a Jerk' song trending at the time on social media.

It wasn't unusual for him. LeMay busts out his impressive dance moves every Friday with the kids. But this time, it caught the attention of TikTok.

Fellow teacher Jenny McCauley, who posted the video of LeMay dancing online late that Saturday night, describes its meteoric rise.

"By Sunday morning, I woke up and it was over a million views at that time. And it was not even 9 o'clock in the morning. I found out that Snoop Dogg shared it on his Instagram story on Sunday afternoon. At that point I knew that this was going to go bigger than I could even imagine," she recalls.

The Friday dance parties are just one of many steps the school has taken to try and make school more fun for the students, and help them reconnect with one another and the faculty after the prolonged social isolation of the pandemic.

As for LeMay, he's certainly not taking his newfound fame for granted.

"All the comments were like - 'He's been waiting 12 years for that'. I've been waiting 30 years for this, man!", he says.

But ultimately, he says, it's all about inspiring students and making them love school, and that's what he cares about.

"This is my job and this is my career, but more than anything, it's my passion. The kids are our passion," he says.