"Our school year will be beautiful," faculty, staff and students with super hero-themed T-shirts sang as a camera panned through the halls of Dardanelle Primary School for a back-to-school video project.
The kindergarten-through-third grade primary school put its own spin on a popular song in a nearly four-minute, 50-second video that was shown in classrooms Monday after the first daily announcements of the 2015-16 school year.
Preparations for the "lip-dub" video, inspired by One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful," came out of a tradition at the school each August.
Principal Sue Ann Jernigan said Dardanelle Primary School develops a team-building exercise each year for the students to help them get adjusted to new classes and for new students to get acclimated to the school.
For Dardanelle Primary School, the best way to introduce students to the current school year was through a video featuring a lip dub of original lyrics and dance.
"Schools can be fun as well as academic," Jernigan said, adding that students are still talking about the video.
The school's faculty and staff spent an in-service day last week filming the video in stages — from rehearsing dances in the halls to recording the lip dub that went with music playing over loud speakers throughout the school.
The husband of Vandy Moore, a Dardanelle first-grade teacher, used his skills as a professional videographer to capture the project.
Of the experience, Jernigan said, "It was hard core."
About 730 students attend Dardanelle Primary School, according to the school.