'Hallelujah' a snow day! School's unique cancellation video
Raw video: Superintendent Aaron Polansky sings song with students from Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School in Massachusetts to announce school cancellation
A snow day will get any student singing “Hallelujah,” but a southern Massachusetts superintendent beat them to it when he announced canceled classes with the help of the famous tune.
Aaron Polansky, the new superintendent for Old Colony Regional Vocation Technical High School in Rochester, Mass., rewrote the words to Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” to let students know they could sleep in on Tuesday.
He told Fox News that he wanted to do something fun and silly especially after his cosmetology student had to cancel a trip to the International Beauty Show in New York City scheduled for Tuesday. He said they were “crushed” because they had raised $2,000 over the weekend for the trip.
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“I was sitting in my office Monday night talking to my wife about canceling classes because everyone else had,” Polansky said. “There were a bunch of boys rehearsing for a talent show … so we did a spoof of the song.”
“I heard there was a winter storm, in Southern Mass there is snow in store, and you don’t really want to risk it do ya?” Polansky sang to the camera. “Well it goes like this, we canceled trip to New York City for Cosmo Kids so I guess we probably should cancel school.”
The seven students were in the background singing to the chorus.
Polansky uploaded the video to YouTube and sent it to families via Facebook and Twitter.
In addition to having some fun with the announcement, Polansky said he hopes it will bring attention to his students and his school.
“We have some great kids and we’re just having fun,” he said, adding that the response to the video has been “awesome.”
In Massachusetts, where the forecast called for 12 to 18 inches of snow, Gov. Charlie Baker encouraged drivers to stay off the roads and to take public transit only if absolutely necessary, saying the fast snowfall rates would make driving hazardous.
If a second snow day is necessary, Polansky said he already has a tune in mind. While he didn’t say which song, he promised that it would be an early Eminem rap.
“I will leave it as a surprise,” he said.
