Arataki School children Te Hiraroa Moss-Chaplin, 7, Zalee Davies-Biddle, 6, Jakhova Wharepapa, 6, and Matamitchell Rikirangi-Ben, 6, are over the moon their video about reading has become popular online, especially with New Zealand hip hop star Savage.
Arataki School children Te Hiraroa Moss-Chaplin, 7, Zalee Davies-Biddle, 6, Jakhova Wharepapa, 6, and Matamitchell Rikirangi-Ben, 6, are over the moon their video about reading has become popular online, especially with New Zealand hip hop star Savage.
A video created by children at Mount Maunganui has become an online sensation, with a little help from Kiwi hip hop star Savage.
The video shows 6 and 7-year-old children plus teaching staff singing Where the Reading's At, dancing and pretending to play trumpets along to the music of TimmyTrumpet's song Freaks.
The video was the brainchild of teacher Rachel Allen, who messaged Savage to see if he would mind if they used the song, which featured his vocals.
Savage told the Bay of Plenty Times he was humbled by the school's request to use the song and the final result of what they did with it.
"That video was meant to be just for the school but I said 'Do you mind if I post it?' Because it was set on private. 'I just think what you guys are doing is amazing. You guys really engaged with the kids.' Not just that but the video will help parents get involved with having quality time with their kids."
Savage
Savage said that, while he was not surprised at the popularity of the video, he was stunned at its reach. "It's just amazing how people have really connected with the video and how quickly it went viral," he said.
"I was doing an interview for a show I'm doing in Darwin and that's something that came up. It's just awesome."
The video had 5892 hits on YouTube as of 8pm yesterday.
Savage said he was passionate about helping young children learn and was stoked his song helped.
"I guess I grew up with a rough upbringing. There's a lot I missed out on as a kid," he said.
"I'm now a father myself and have three kids. I choose to make sure they have everything I didn't have. I always sit down and read stories with them.
"I showed my 5-year-old daughter the video and said: 'Reading is cool isn't it?' and she said 'Yeah, reading is fun'."
Savage commended the efforts of Miss Allen and the school.
"They've taken something the kids are into and made it fun."
Tyler Balks, 6, said his favourite part was when they danced like monkeys, while Zalee Davies-Biddle, 6, preferred dancing gangnam style.
Principal Shelley Blakey, who features pretending to play a trumpet, said she was proud of the students' and staff's effort.
"There were four kids with iPads filming. They all had different jobs in the video. It was fantastic," she said.
Mrs Blakey said the video helped promote the school's Panui Arataki - a reading programme that encouraged parents and caregivers of students to visit the library before school to read books with their children. Miss Allen was the school's literacy leader "and she really wanted to amp it up".
