Talk about schooling the competition.
In an exclusive first look at the season finale of American Ninja Warrior airing Monday, fifth grade schoolteacher and competitor Allyssa Beird takes on Stage Two of the National Finals in a highflying run — but first, she gets some help from her students.
To celebrate the fact that Beird is only the second woman to make it to this point in the competition, the show filmed a special video for the finale with her and her students back in Middleborough, Massachusetts.
“During the day, I’m a fifth grade teacher — I prepare lessons, we do English, we do science, math, social studies,” Beird says in the clip. “But I live sort of a double life. When I finish a school day, I continue on into ninja mode. I’m a teacher by day and ninja by night.”
The music video style clip features Beird bringing her ninja skills to the classroom by jumping on desks and cartwheeling down the hallways as her students tap their feet along to Lorde’s hit “Green Light.”
“What really drives me is there’s always more to learn, there’s always a new obstacle or way to be stronger,” Beird says. “It means a lot to me to have kids say that I inspire them. It takes dedication, it takes perseverance, but if you stick to your goals, you can accomplish anything.”
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The 26-year-old former gymnast is the only woman left in the competition, and a preview of her finale run shows her successfully completing the first task of Stage Two.
Contestants who reached Stage Two compete in hopes of advancing to Stages Three and Four. The finalists vie to win a cash prize of one million and the title of “American Ninja Warrior.”
Catch the rest of Beird’s run during the finale of American Ninja Warrior airing Monday at 8 p.m. on NBC.
