Baldwin teachers go viral
Many teenagers scroll past hundreds of videos daily – makeup tutorials, motivational speakers, celebrity gossip, recipes that you just “have to try.” But Baldwin students stopped scrolling when they saw their very own hallways and teachers surprisingly popping up on their “For You Page” one day in 2022.
One of The Purbalite’s TikToks had gone viral, surpassing 1 million views, 197,000 likes, thousands of saves, and hundreds of comments. The video featured then-Purbalite editor Grace Spozarski pulling teachers like Beth Fochtman, Tim Laughlin, and Tom Simcho out of their classes to ask questions like, “Can you name a teacher with a great sense of humor?” and “Could you name a teacher at Baldwin who might lock their keys in their car?”
Comments from students at other schools said the relatability of the video made it stand out. Many others left comments about the teachers featured in the video – comparing them to teachers from their own schools, various celebrities, and fictional characters. “They’re all so nice,” one commenter said.
Ultimately, the appeal of the video seemed to boil down to how willing the teachers were to participate in the trend. Allowing Spozarski to interrupt their classes, poking fun at each other, and showing their personalities engaged viewers and boosted interactions with the video – and briefly had Baldwin going viral.
- Anne Hampton, News Editor
