COTTONWOOD — “Awesome.”

That’s the word most people are using to describe Lakeview Schools Principal Scott Hanson’s unique rap performance he delivered to notify students and parents that school was cancelled due to inclement weather. Lakeview and neighboring districts ended up having snow days for three straight days.

“Winters can get really long in Minnesota, especially when you have three days off like that,” Hanson said. “When you have those extremely cold days and you can’t get outside, you’ve got to keep a good sense of humor. That helps keep things in perspective.”

Hanson said he never dreamed his efforts would go beyond the borders of the small southwest Minnesota community, but his rap videos quickly gained a lot of attention from others in the area and across the state as well.

“That’s just a great lesson on how fast things travel on social media, whether it’s good or bad,” Hanson said. “I had no idea this would draw so much attention. You think you’ll get a few laughs from your family, good friends and community, but it just took off.”

Fox 9 picked up on the popularity, noting that Hanson’s “Ice Ice Lakers” rap video posted on the Lakeview Schools’ website had been viewed more than 35,000 times in just over 12 hours.

“I think the kids enjoyed it,” Hanson said. “A lot of the students have talked to me about it when they came back to school on Thursday. I know I’m not going to win American Idol or anything, but I wanted to do something fun and energetic to remind students to just be yourself and to give a little extra. I had a lot of fun making the videos.”

Snowfall and high winds made travel extremely difficult on Monday, forcing schools in the area to halt classes. That’s when Hanson decided to take on the rap challenge, giving his best Vanilla Ice impression for everyone in Laker Nation.

“One of my good friends saw that a superintendent from Missouri did that on Facebook,” Hanson said. “He texted me and said, ‘I bet you can’t do this.’ So I did the first one. But then that turned into the second one on the next day and then the third.”

After Hanson made the rap videos on an iPad, tech coordinator Phil Lalim put it on the school’s Facebook page. Historically cold temperatures — nearly 30 degrees below zero with wind chills of around 57 below — forced school closings on Tuesday and Wednesday.

For those two snow days, Hanson rendition of AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” became “Snow Day Struck,” followed by his own version of Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling.”

“I’m not a wonderful singer by any means, but the biggest thing is to remind our kids about our school motto this year, which is to be a 212,” Hanson said. “Water boils at 212 degrees, but at 211, it’s just hot. With a little extra, going that one extra degree, water will boil. And boiling water produces steam and steam powers locomotives down the track.”

Hanson said the idea — to be the “extra degree” — was borrowed from author Sam Parker.

“He wrote the book, ‘212 the Extra Degree,'” Hanson said. “Last year’s school motto was to be an 11 on a scale of 1-10, to be off the scale. It’s a hard thing to do. We want our kids to not be afraid of failure, but give your best effort and have fun while doing it.”

Lakeview High School Counselor Shelley Buntjer said that what people see in those videos are what people at Lakeview see every day.

“Scott is a principal who leads by example,” Buntjer said. “He brings his ‘A’ game to the table every single day and his energy is contagious. His positivity shows students and staff that even when things might seem gloomy, your attitude will carry you through anything.”

In a Facebook poll, 68 percent said their favorite rap was “Ice Ice Lakers” compared to 32 percent who preferred “Snow Day Struck.”

A huge number of fans also posted uplifting comments in response to Hanson’s creativity and positivity. Kudos to Mr. Hanson for being a great example, one of the posts read, while another stressed that he should keep his day job — because he is an “awesome principal.”

Some viewers posted that they loved Hanson’s “enthusiasm and energy,” while one individual asked if he knew any Taylor Swift songs. Another person summed up the school motto in two sentences.

“Now that’s going above that 212 degrees,” the person said. “You rock, Mr. Hanson.”

While the hype will likely die down after awhile, people anticipate that Hanson’s enthusiasm will never go away.

“Every morning during announcements and after the Pledge of Allegiance, Scott will say, ‘It’s a great day to be a Laker,’ and he truly means it,” Buntjer said.