Prosper ISD officer's storybook rap video getting lots of attention

PROSPER, Texas - When a Prosper Independent School District police officer had the opportunity to read to elementary school students he decided to "make a fool out of myself."

But the video of Officer Steven Antommarchi rapping to P.D. Eastman's “I'll Teach My Dog 100 Words” is getting a lot of great reaction on social media.

WATCH: facebook.com/steven.anto/posts/10100696436045330

Officer Antommarchi said it all started when Prosper ISD asked him to make a video for the district’s virtual learners.

“With our kids having a virtual learning opportunity this year we wanted to make sure that we had a video so that the kids that chose that option had an opportunity to get a book read to them, which is something that we do here at Prosper ISD pretty frequently. Our officers do that pretty commonly,” he said.

The idea of making it a rap video came from a teacher he follows on Instagram.

“He’s a teacher that actually is a really good rapper,” he said. “I contacted him with my idea. He gave us the beat. And Kaz and I kind of put our twist to it and made it our own and the rest is history.”

Kaz is Officer Antommarchi’s K-9 partner. The two have been working together for about three years.

“Not only is he my partner but he’s very much a part of my family. So he gets spoiled, lots of treats and lots of love for sure,” he said.

The rap video now has more than 107,000 views on social media. People are already asking for an encore.

“The kids’ reactions have been the best. Starting off the year a lot of us always with our masks on our face, we don’t always look approachable so this has been a great way to be approachable. And it’s worked for sure,” he said.

Antommarchi said Prosper ISD’s police officers have a unique opportunity to lay the foundation for kids having positive interactions with officers.

“It’s our goal as a police department from when kids start in kindergarten to when they graduate to have at least 500 positive encounters with us,” he said. “Those of the things we focus on and put a lot of time in. And we’re very proud of as well.”