Principal joins in with high school step team at pep rally

Dr. Donna “Mickey” Reynolds, the new principal at Lake Mary High School in Florida, had a plan to take the floor during a pep rally at the school earlier this month.

Usually, when a principal steps in front of the student body, she makes plans to lecture the crowd or inform them of upcoming events. Well, Reynolds had quite the surprise for her students.

Principal Surprises Students

The school’s step team, Unity Revolution, was already wowing the crowd with an energetic routine. Suddenly, the principal appeared on the floor looking not like a principal, but dressed in a team uniform. Yes, Reynolds wore the classic camouflage pants and team shirt! She was ready to dance!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbDNvVClXwG/?taken-by=lakemarystepteam

In the YouTube video posted by student parent Becky Godwin, you can see some of the teens in the crowd shocked at the sight of their new principal waiting for her cue. But wait until you see how the kids react when “Mickey” busts out some moves!

Watch out! She’s on fire! And what was her reaction to the screams and cheers from her students?

“I didn’t know how the students would react,” Reynolds told TODAY Parents. “My expectation was that they would be dying laughing, that they would think it was hysterical. But I have never heard such cheering. I was so blown away by how much they were cheering.”

Once the video was posted on Facebook, it didn’t take long for it to go viral. More than 3 million views, 28,000 likes and 40,000 shares later, Reynolds and the Unity Revolution dance team have become national celebrities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=QMrkR9Wk5g0

Booed At Her First Pep Rally

As Reynolds told TODAY, the experience at the now-famous pep rally was much different than her first rally of the year. Apparently some of the students still felt tied to the school’s former principal, and they chose to voice that attachment in the form of booing Reynolds when she was introduced.

“I’m not used to being booed,” Reynolds told TODAY. “But we kind of accept that as principals; there is going to be a transition period. You know that it’s going to take a while for people to accept you, because they are irritated that the other principal is gone.

Reynolds has some history with dancing at Lake Mary High School, by the way. Her father was the original principal at the school—which is located north of Orlando—years ago, and Reynolds was captain of her school’s dance team back in the day. So what made her decide to take a risk and put her dancing shoes back on?

“It’s All For The Kids”

“I’m an optimist,” she told Fox 35 News. “And sometimes I think I can do things that are a little bit crazy. It’s all for the kids.”

The 49-year-old principal also confessed to being a little sore after her performance. When asked if she’ll be taking any encores on the gym floor, she said she hadn’t made any commitments yet.

“We shall see,” she told the anchor, with some of the team behind her. Either way, seems like she’s got the entire team and her school behind her now. The team shared a photo on Instagram with Reynolds and one of the hashtags was “#thatsMYprincipal.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbPnucQFbNN/?taken-by=lakemarystepteam

Way to rock it out Dr. Reynolds! Check out more of the team’s moves on Instagram below:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRhm5p-lMD8

They are really good!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaiEuCYlm3j/?taken-by=lakemarystepteam