The video clip captured at W.G. Nunn Elementary School in Valdosta has since gone viral on Facebook with over three million views. (Google Maps)
Hardworking educators know that there’s much more to their job than simply teaching, perhaps explaining why a video clip of one Georgia teacher fixing his kindergarten student’s ponytail during gym class has gone massively viral on Facebook with over three million views.
Two weeks ago, W.G. Nunn Elementary School assistant kindergarten teacher Kandice Anderson shared video footage of phys-ed teacher Jonathan Oliver styling young Kristen Paulk’s hair into a ponytail at her request during a basketball game in gym, Good Morning America reports, which has since won over 30,000 likes and more than 400 shares on the social media platform.
“When your job goes beyond teaching… #CoachO #LoveIt,” Anderson captioned the sweet twenty-second clip of the Valdosta scene.
Though the small gesture evidently struck a heartstring with many, Oliver told the outlet that he never expected the clip to win such widespread attention – nor did he even realize he was being filmed.
“It was shocking to me that it got that much attention because we all do it,” Oliver, a father of three, told GMA. “We [teachers] want to make them feel like they’re at home and that they enjoy being here.”
“We try to love on them as much as possible. To me, it was just a ponytail,” he added.
Likewise, Paulk’s mom, Miyah Cleckley, told GMA that the delightful clip earned her stamp of approval.
“I always know that Kristen is in very good hands with him,” Cleckley said of the teacher – though she wasn’t surprised that Paulk felt confident enough to ask him for help with her hair.
“I thought it was really cute because her father he does their hair a lot. We have five girls and one son so when I’m working he has to pick up the weight of doing their hair,” she detailed.
Oliver, meanwhile, said he’s just glad that Paulk asked for a simple style.
“It was a good thing she asked for a ponytail,” the 34-year-old educator told GMA. “Anything else, I’d say, ‘You better ask your mom.'”