Trevor Boffone and his students at Bellaire High School have gone viral several times.
A Texas high school teacher is bringing more than books to the classroom. Trevor Boffone is bringing his dance moves too.
Boffone, who teaches Spanish, and his students at Bellaire High School have gone viral several times for their dancing videos and have an Instagram following that’s at nearly 200,000. Boffone said dancing is a way to connect with his students.
“'Dubsmash’ launched a dance challenge app, so my students were interested in [in it] and I was like, ‘What are these things?’ and so they started teaching me the dance moves and we started making videos,” Boffone told InsideEdition.com of how it all began.
He’s been a teacher since 2008 and has always danced with his students, but he didn’t start making videos until he got a job at Bellaire High School in 2018.
In February, his students convinced him to make an Instagram account for their videos and they started going viral.
“It was a small group of students in each class,” Boffone said. “We would do it on Fridays after when we finished our work or during lunch.”
Not only did Boffone say it helped him bridge the cultural gaps between him and his students, he said it also brought back his passion for teaching after a tough start to the school year.
“My father died the first day of school so I began the year just totally burnt out,” Boffone said. “I didn’t want to be here. I didn’t want to teach anymore. And it took my students saving me to fall in love with my job again and we did that through dancing.”
And his favorite move currently? “The Wop.”
Now the teacher is expanding his Instagram and recently had another viral video where he takes attendance and greets his students with a move popularly called “The Woah.”
“It’s about community. I wanted people to know that I was a teacher and recognize that part of me,” Boffone said.
He hopes his videos will help other teachers connect with their students.
“One of the big issues I think with education in general is teachers that aren’t willing to learn about their students’ culture but value it,” Boffone added.
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