'Education is that swag!' Alabama teacher, 23, goes viral with video of her third graders singing a 'classroom edition' of Old Town Road - which she uses to help students with test anxiety
- Jasmine Amani Merlette made up new lyrics to the song Old Town Road by Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus
- The new version is about studying and acing a math test
- She taught the lyrics to the eight and nine-year-olds in her Sun Valley Elementary School class, who performed it on camera
- The video has gone viral, and even Lil Nas X tweeted about it
- Ms. Merlette, who is in her first year teaching at the Birmingham school, said it's important for kids to get a say in their lessons
A third grade class in Alabama has gone viral for their special 'classroom edition' of Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus' song Old Town Road.
The kids' teacher, Jasmine Amani Merlette, works hard to keep her class engaged and interested in learning.
So ahead of a big math test, the 23-year-old first-year teacher came up with new lyrics to the popular song and taught her eight and nine-year-olds — who perfectly performed the song in a now-viral video.
Engaging: Third grade teacher Jasmine Amani Merlette (left) made up new lyrics to the song Old Town Road for her class to learn
Get excited! The 23-year-old educator, who teaches at Sun Valley Elementary School in Birmingham, Alabama, made the song about studying for a math test
Ms. Merlette's class at Sun Valley Elementary School in Birmingham, Alabama was clearly excited about the song, which she filmed them singing last month.
Doing great work: This is Ms. Merlette's first year of teaching
'A day in the life of Ms. Merlette,' she captioned the video on Facebook, adding a string of hashtags: #MyClassHasBarsss #TurntUpTuesday #ThisIsOURJam #WeKILTOurStateTest #ThirdGradeShawty #YoFavoriteTeacher.
As the video begins, the boys and girls are all grinning and obviously thrilled to be singing Ms. Merlette's special lyrics.
'I'm gonna ace my test, I'm gonna raise my score, I'm gonna solve 'til I can't no more,' they sing in a new version of Billy Ray Cyrus' chorus.
Switching to Lil Nas X's part, they sing: 'I got the answers in the back, scratch work is attached, pencils in my bag and I'm solvin' mighty fast.
'School is my task! I can do this math really quick and fast, education is that swag.
'Can't nobody stop me from learning, can't stop me from learning. The wheels in my head keep churning, they just keep on churning.'
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Great performers: 'I'm gonna ace my test, I'm gonna raise my score, I'm gonna solve 'til I can't no more,' the class sings
They go on: 'School is my task! I can do this math really quick and fast, education is that swag'
Viral: Ms. Merlette even helpfully put the lyrics on the bottom of the screen — and says she's seen other classrooms singing her song, too
Make it fun! She said she finds it important for kids to have a say in their lessons. Since they like rap, she includes it in class and has them do rap battles to learn vocabulary
Since she posted the video on April 30, it's been viewed 21,000 times on her page — and another five million times on the Twitter account @cocoabutterbf.
The video has continued to spread, bringing the class international attention.
Speaking to AL.com, Ms. Merlette said it's important for her to let the kids have a say in class. She knows they like rap, so in addition to making this video, she taught them verbs and adjectives through rap battles.
'They can have fun while learning because they deserve it. All children should because they are still children,' she said.
'They need us to never give up on them. Ever. We need to make sure we are doing everything we can to make learning fun and exciting for them by incorporating things they love into the curriculum, into the content, into the lessons, and into everything that is involved in schools.'
Speaking to told the local Fox affiliate WBRC, she said that she's now seen other classrooms singing her song since it went viral.
Genius: Ms. Merlette has come up with classroom-specific lyrics for Old Town Road by Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus
He approves! Lil Nas X tweeted about the video, calling it 'beautiful' — much to the delight of the kids in it
Their teacher said: 'They deserve everything that is coming their way'
It's even reached the singers of the original song: Billy Ray Cyrus retweeted it, and Lil Nas X gave it a shoutout on Twitter.
'I'm cheesing hard as hell watching this. this beautiful lol,' he wrote.
Ms. Merlette says that the rapper's attention was the most exciting part for her students.
'The best moment was when one of my students said, "Ms. Merlette, he saw our classroom. He saw us in our element,"' she said.
'And to me that was the biggest moment ever because this is about them, this is for them. They deserve everything that is coming their way.'
She also noted that all that hard work paid off: Her kids did quite well on the math test they were studying for.
'They killed that test. So really, I am so proud of them,' she said.
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