PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Close to 20 million people around the globe have seen the TikTok video of a 2nd grader and his teacher throw down in a “Veggie Dance” dance-off.

We tracked down the stars of the viral video at Deep Roots Charter School in Philadelphia‘s Kensington neighborhood and found out firsthand how they won the hearts of the internet.

“It all started to teach Ahmad a lesson,” says 2nd grade teacher Regina Laurie. “He kept telling me, ‘Oh, Mrs. Laurie, you’re old. Look at your (gray) hair.’ So I said to myself, ‘I’m going to challenge this boy to a dance-off. I’m going to dance rings around this boy and he doesn’t even know it yet!’”

“I never knew she could dance like that,” said 8-year-old Ahmad Dennis. “People were saying, ‘They ate that,’ and ‘she ate you up!”

Viewers especially loved seeing a seasoned woman tear up the dance floor.

One comment read: “She left no crumbs.”

“That’s hysterical,” Laurie says. “I cannot wrap my head around all this.”

Laurie has been an educator for more than 30 years, but, no surprise, she also has a bachelor’s degree in dance from Temple University.

Here’s why she’s thrilled this video is viral across the globe.