A Philadelphia teacher and 8-year-old student are capturing the internet's heart after their dance-off to the hit "Veggie Dance" song from "Gracie's Corner" has taken off.
A TikTok video of the dance-off has since gone viral with over 19 million views since it was first shared in April.
In the clip, 8-year-old Ahmad starts dancing first and shows off his fancy footwork to crowd cheers. Then, Regina Laurie, a second-grade teacher at Deep Roots Charter School in Philadelphia, goes next and dances in a ring around Ahmad.
Philadelphia ABC station WPVI met up with the teacher and student at Deep Roots Charter School this May and Laurie said it was her idea for the light-hearted dance-off.
"It all started to teach Ahmad a lesson," Laurie told WPVI. "He kept telling me, 'Oh, Mrs. Laurie, you're old. Look at your [gray] hair.' So I said to myself, 'I'm going to challenge this boy to a dance-off. I'm going to dance rings around this boy and he doesn't even know it yet!'"
8-year-old Ahmad said he was surprised when his teacher started dancing.
"I never knew she could dance like that," said 8-year-old Ahmad Dennis. "People were saying, 'They ate that,' and 'she ate you up!"
One TIkTok commenter added, "left not a piece of crumb She Ate 🤗💃🏻 check Veggie Dance off list her💯💜."
Laurie, who told WPVI she holds a bachelor's degree in dance from Temple University, said she is happy the TikTok video has reached so many people.
"I think that I sort of led the way in terms of having other teachers not be afraid to kick off their shoes and literally just show that you're also a person behind that role that we have," Laurie said.
