Levittown teachers remake viral 'Fox' music video

Wearing a page boy wig, teacher Mary Anne Sanchez walked down one of the hallways at MacArthur High School in Levittown surrounded by some of her colleagues, who were disguised as a cow, a duck, a frog and other animals. Then, lip-synching to a video camera, Sanchez asked the all-important question: “What does the fox say?”

Earlier this month, a video surfaced on YouTube featuring Sanchez and more than a dozen other MacArthur faculty members re-enacting the popular music video, “The Fox,” by Norwegian brothers Vegard and Bard Ylvisaker. While it hasn’t garnered the 217 million hits that the Ylvisaker brothers’ video received, as of Wednesday, the MacArthur version had been viewed more than 16,750 times.

“It’s spreading among the alumni,” said Sanchez, 42, of Wantagh, who teaches ninth grade social studies and psychology.

Sanchez said the video was originally created for the school’s Oct. 24 talent show to entertain the crowd while the judges were deliberating.

“This started because staff members wanted to keep the lineup of entertainment running smoothly at a students' event,” said MacArthur High School Principal Kathleen Valentino. “They volunteered their own time after school to film the spoof to bridge the gap.“

The 45-minute film shoot took place inside the school after the school day on Oct. 17, said Vincent Causeman, a social studies teacher and dean of students who can be seen in the video dancing around in a fox costume.

Causeman also runs the school’s video club and edited the 4-minute, 16-second video. He said he uploaded it to YouTube on Nov. 6 after he was inundated with requests from students who missed the show, but wanted to see the video.

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“I don’t think anyone was surprised,” Causeman said of the performance. “The staff is so great at taking part in whatever the kids are doing.”

The teachers featured in the video are members of the social studies and special education department, including Erica Meaney, who plays an elephant and made all the masks, Sanchez said.

Although Causeman, a 1994 MacArthur graduate who has been teaching at the school for 13 years, said the purpose of the video was just to entertain, he does believe stunts like this can have a positive impact on students.

“It makes the kids enjoy the building a little more, knowing their staff will do stuff like this,” he said.

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Sanchez echoed that sentiment.

“It doesn’t have to be all serious all the time,” she said. “You can have fun, joke around. Teachers are human, too.”

Even when they are dressed like animals.