Pine River-Backus (PR-B) Elementary School students were treated to a surprise at the January ROAR rally.
After honoring more than 40 students with golden tickets for their good behavior and recognizing honor roll winners, elementary principal Rick Aulie told students that their achievements made him happy.
"I'm kind of happy. I just feel like dancing," Aulie said.
At the mention of the word "dancing," Pharell Williams' song "Happy" played over the intercom, Aulie began to dance and, much to students' surprise, their teachers descended from the bleachers where they sat with their classes and began to groove in a choreographed dance.
The flash mob came as a pleasant ending to a somber ROAR Rally. Though students were being recognized and celebrated for their accomplishments, the elementary student council had dedicated the rally to those who fought and fight against cancer.
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Before the dance, Aulie explained that students and staff at the school were wearing white and purple in honor of two people very important to the school - cancer patient Bub Johnson, whose mother works in the kitchen at PR-B and whose wife is a paraprofessional; and the late Sandra Poferl, a former PR-B School Board member.
There was a moment of silence in memory of Poferl, who died from cancer Dec. 11, and her husband, PR-B foster grandparent Martin Poferl, who died Jan. 15.
