Charlotte elementary kids have a blast in charming Panthers video

The entire student body at Polo Ridge Elementary school – all 1,080 kindergarteners to fifth graders – and dozens of staff members took part in filming a video featuring an original song to wish the Carolina Panthers “good luck” in Sunday’s Super Bowl game.

Principal Nizy John says the students and staff have been celebrating all season with Panthers “spirit days.” On Fridays before a game, students have been encouraged to wear team colors – black and blue – or Panthers jerseys.

“As they kept winning, we got more and more excited,” John said.

With the Panthers playing in the Super Bowl, she said, the school decided to step up its show of team spirit.

Third-grade teacher Erin Watson came up with the idea for a music video, John said.

Students were given the chance to re-write lyrics to pop-rock song “Shut Up and Dance,” by Walk the Moon. More than 100 students submitted original songs. From there, teachers blended themes and words from the submissions and created the final song to encourage the Panthers to “Keep Pounding.”

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 4:52 PM with the headline "Charlotte elementary kids have a blast in charming Panthers video."