You know, something clicks in most every man’s head when they become surrounded by kids, whether by their own children or because of work in a school (or both). A certain kind of humor starts developing in their minds—and it ain’t necessarily dad jokes—that you can’t explain, but also can’t stop laughing at.
Meet Ryan Olson, a dad and school teacher who has been going viral because of his several-year streak of very themed photos where he dresses up in very appropriate PE attire for the school picture. Bored Panda got in touch with Ryan for an interview.
School photos are something many had some fun with, and PE Teacher Ryan Olson took it to the next level
Image credits: Ryan Olson
So, meet Ryan Olson, a father of two lovely kids and a 7-year physical education teacher at St. Cloud Area State School in Saint Cloud, Minnesota. For the past several years, like many students and other school teachers, Ryan also has been partaking in school picture day, except there’s a bit of a twist…
Instead of doing what many teachers are prompted to do—being semi-professional with their pictures, at the very least—Ryan decided he needed to one-up the PE aesthetic in his school pictures.
This resulted in some of the most hilarious snaps the internet has seen thus far. Each year, Ryan would wear a different stereotypical PE teacher outfit or would pose with various sports equipment, doing a variety of grins as if he was celebrating being a physical education teacher to the fullest.
Instead of his regular or formal teacher attire, he went with a more hilarious PE teacher approach
Image credits: Ryan Olson
Image credits: Ryan Olson
"I have always been one to have fun in everything I do. Whether it is work, school, or anything else," explained Ryan. "I feel more productive when I am having fun and enjoying what I am doing. I started taking pictures just as an inside joke with friends and my co-teacher. You can’t take life too seriously."
The first year’s outfit was a white shirt plus black PE shorts with the complementary basketball and iconic whistle, while many other years, it was the same shorts with a black and white striped shirt to highlight that very PE teacher belly, all the while holding everything from badminton rackets to croquet hammers.
There were also years when Ryan took a bit of a different approach, namely the 2018-2019 school picture where he’s being ultra patriotic by sporting red-white-blue shorts with a very redneck flannel shirt and a bald eagle t-shirt underneath whilst standing, bowling ball and pin in hand, in front of the American flag.
He's seen posing in black shorts and striped shirt, holding a variety of sports implements, like croquet hammers
Image credits: Ryan Olson
Image credits: Ryan Olson
This year, he also did Joe Exotic, wearing the iconic white hair with a whole lot of denim and sporting leather cowboy boots for good measure. Too bad there was no tiger in the picture, but hey, he pulled off the Tiger King very well!
"The first few years I had a pair of shorts that were my father’s from the early 80s that fit the prototypical gym teacher look," elaborated Ryan. "Then I would just find a random piece of equipment in the storage room and made it up as I went. Occasionally, I have switched it up a bit. 2020 started as the year of Joe Exotic and somehow got crazier from there, so I thought I would do things a little different this year."
He's been doing it for years, and each year he seems to one-up his PE teacher outfit
Image credits: Ryan Olson
One such photo ended up on his school teacher name tag
Image credits: Ryan Olson
Ryan’s wife shared a handful of these photos spanning the years 2014 through to 2020 on her Facebook, explaining the context of it all.
“My husband is an elementary phys ed teacher. His school pictures have been escalating these past few years and at some point should be revealed… I don’t know how it could get worse: just a peek at the past few years’ school photos,” explained Lindsey Olson, Ryan’s wife, in the Facebook post.
And the post blew up, garnering over 23,000 various Facebook reactions as well as nearly 40,000 shares. Many pointed out just how hilarious it all is, saying that he looks like a super fun PE teacher if he’s doing things like this and cheering him on.
Needless to say, the photos going viral came a surprise to Ryan and his wife. The pictures were posted as an update to friends and family because his wife had not shared the last years of school pictures with anyone—and it was funny to watch how it all quickly spread across the globe.
We also asked Ryan what was the reception like among his students and colleagues, and he said this: "The reception varies from person to person. The ones that have my sense of humor usually appreciate them and get a good laugh. Some don’t even recognize me, and then you have close family that ranges from thinking I’m crazy to being appalled (just kidding). The students that have seen them usually just look at me like 'are you serious?'"
These pictures started going viral when his wife posted them on her Facebook, garnering thousands of likes
Image credits: Ryan Olson
And, of course, you should have expected a Joe Exotic from Tiger King outfit!
Image credits: Ryan Olson
Ryan concluded: "I never started this to get others to follow what I did or for “likes” or shares, but one of the most common responses I saw were teachers that said they were going to start doing this or requesting teachers they knew to start. If we can get more things to laugh at and look forward to, I guess it is a positive thing."
"I hope if others take anything from this, its that teachers take that same approach with their students. I tell every class I have the first day in the gym that my number one goal is to keep them all safe, but second is that every kid has fun when they come to our class. The learning part comes automatically then, because the kids are enjoying what they are doing. Education can be fun, silly, and… educational."
What are your thoughts on this? Has your PE or any other teacher done something similar like this for the school photo? Let us know in the comment section below!
Here's how people on the internet reacted to Ryan's take on PE teacher outfits for school pictures
