Jonathan Clark is hardly your typical Grade 8 science teacher. Although he鈥檚 been teaching in California for several years, it鈥檚 not his lesson plans that are going viral.
The teacher from Clovis North Educational Center in Fresno, Calif., actually moonlights as a professional basketball dunker and his videos on have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
Some even show him flipping and dunking over his students, while other clips show tricks usually reserved for NBA players.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of a win-win for me in a sense because I do what I enjoy and the kids really get a kick out of it,鈥 he told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview.
Clark use to keep his dunking life under wraps because he didn鈥檛 want to distract his students.
鈥淏ut throughout this year, I鈥檝e just been focused on building rapport with the kids and I kind of saw it [dunking] helped with them 鈥榖uying鈥 into class,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd it was an opportunity to show my personality -- show my human side.鈥
鈥淭he kids really gravitated towards it and made class more fun 鈥 so as long as we were taking care of work definitely will oblige them and have fun in class [too],鈥 he said.
Clark explains that during normal school days he focuses on classes, marking and homework but when he hangs up a detachable net in his classroom, that signals he鈥檚 feeling up for dunking.
鈥淥n days where we just finished taking a quiz or 鈥 we have some free time, when the hoop鈥檚 up they kind of know it鈥檚 a more relaxed situation,鈥 he said.
But Clark is occasionally tapped to perform backflips at school pep rallies.
Clark wants to eventually become a principal
Back when he was finishing college, he thought his life would be in athletics. He鈥檇 done track and field in school and even competed for a spot on the U.S. Olympic basketball team in 2012.
When that didn鈥檛 work out, he tried making a career out of his love for dunking.
鈥淏ut that [wouldn鈥檛] pay the bills long term,鈥 he admitted, adding he even tore his ACL in 2014. 鈥淎nd that lit a fire under me that I鈥檓 not superhuman.鈥
He decided to become a collegiate coach and went back to school to get a master鈥檚 degree in kinesiology. But to help pay for the bills, he took up substitute teaching.
鈥淭hen I fell in love with the school system 鈥 and enjoyed coming to class and seeing students,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t was just something I knew I wanted to do.鈥
That鈥檚 when he applied to get his formal teaching credentials.
When he鈥檚 not teaching and not slamming dunks, he actually has used his talents to be a motion capture actor for video game studios Electronic Arts and 2K.
But you won鈥檛 end up seeing his face. That鈥檚 because video game developers take his movements he makes in a motion capture suit and they overlay the faces of real players.
鈥淪o when I鈥檓 playing the game and LeBron James 鈥 does a specific dunk that is distinct to my style of movement I can tell and say, 鈥榦h yeah, that鈥檚 my dunk鈥欌 he laughed.
As for his future aspirations, he doesn鈥檛 want to end up in the NBA but says he wants to be an elementary school principal.
鈥淚 think that would be the coolest job ever,鈥 he said. 鈥淲henever I see the principal walking around, when I see the kids looking at him 鈥 it鈥檚 someone they respect.鈥
