“It was amusing to see some people mistakenly think he was targeting the opposing team due to their loss,” Jennifer Cowart tells PEOPLE
Jennifer Cowart
School assistant principal makes sign to help students leave football game in a timely manner
Who you gonna call? In this case, either Uber or your mom.
Jennifer Cowart was attending a local middle school football game to watch her cousin play when, in the middle of the fourth quarter, she noticed the school’s assistant principal, Kevin Williams, walking along the bleachers holding a handwritten sign that read, “Call your ride now.”
The 35-year-old from Mobile, Alabama, found the sign both hilarious and brilliant. She tells PEOPLE that because the middle school doesn’t have its own football field, students have to travel to the high school field for their games, about 20 minutes away. After the game, staff can’t leave until all the minors are picked up.
Although Cowart’s children do not yet attend the middle school, she understands that staff have likely been at school since early in the morning, and by 7 p.m., when games end, they’re eager to go home and spend time with their families.
“They don’t want to wait around for two hours or more for parents to pick up their children,” she tells PEOPLE.
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Jennifer Cowart
School assistant principal makes sign to help students leave football game in a timely manner
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When Williams walked by her again with the sign, Cowart decided to grab her phone and record the moment. Later, when she got home from the game, she posted the clip to TikTok. Since then, Cowart’s video has garnered more than 8.5 million views and 3,500 comments.
“This is 100% what parents are looking for in leadership 🙌🏼,” one comment on the video reads. “As a child of a former principal I completely understand this. We wanted our dad home at a reasonable time too,” another comment says.
Someone else replied, “I’m a middle school teacher. We have a sign AND it’s announced at the beginning of the 4th quarter over the speakers to call your ride now. 😂”
Cowart notes that many coaches, principals and other school staffers commented on how relatable and clever they thought the sign was.
“It was amusing to see some people mistakenly believe he was targeting the opposing team due to their loss, but that wasn’t the case at all,” she says. “Although there were a few negative comments, most people supported the assistant principal and his creative sign. It was fun to watch the lively interaction in the comments.”
Last week, Cowart posted a follow-up video featuring Williams holding an updated sign and carrying a child on his shoulders. “He had seen the previous video I posted and said he was going to get a printed sign once their machine was fixed. And he came through,” she says.
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