When the 8th grade students at Sumner High School in Hillsborough, Florida requested a dance battle, one teacher schooled them all. While the students were taking a break from their exams, one student challenged teacher Yolanda Turner to a dance battle, and she couldn't turn down the offer. “They said can we have a dance battle? Can we have a dance battle?” said Turner, who has been a teacher for 23 years. In the now viral video, Turner is seen dancing in a circle to the song "Lose Control" by Missy Elliot, which happens to be one f her favorite songs. She shocked the crowd of students when she started showcasing her dance movies. “I was watching the young man, and I’m like, oh god, don’t make me have to get on these knees, don’t make me have to use these knees,” said Turner. “That song, Lose Control, is like one of my favorite songs. It definitely gets everybody off their feet. So when it came on, I was just, so hype and the crowd was hyping me up.”
Our 8th grade Stingrays having a well deserved exam dance break. Of course our teachers are ending 2022 with a win. Love my Stingrays 💙💚 Happy Holidays @HCPS_SumnerHS pic.twitter.com/Mps92JPJAU
— Natalie.McClain (@McClainEducates) December 23, 2022
The schools' assistant principal recorded and uploaded the fun moment to X, formerly known as twitter, where millions of people saw the video. "I didn’t even know what viral meant. I thought viral was like 30,000 views or 40,000 views. This thing went to 15 million, and it hasn’t even been a full week yet,” said Turner at the time. The video even caught the attention of Missy Elliot herself, who commented three fire emojis. “I’m going through the comments, and then I see Missy Elliot, I see Dr. Bernice King, and I’m like, oh my god this is crazy!” said Turner. "I’ve gotten messages from people just around the world that have seen the video talking about how amazing it is to engage kids,” said Turner. “Some people talk about they wish they had this kind of engagement while they were in school or they want a thousand Miss Turners, but I’m like, there’s only one Miss Turner, now.” Turner said that all kids have something special to them, sometimes they just need a little push. "Every kid in there has something, has a light inside, and it just takes that one little nudge to get it out.”