Taylor Ross

Dear Seniors,

Every spring, despite the excitement surrounding the end of the school year, I start dreading the prospect of a potential senior prank. 

I want to acknowledge that this prank has been the subject of conversation for all of my 25 years here and likely for many years before. The perception that this is a tradition or a right of passage is simply not true. There have been years where the prank happened and many years when it didn’t.  It has been “harmless,” and it has been harmful.  And it has kept a few students from attending their much-anticipated graduation ceremony.

But here’s why I think it is time everyone reconsiders the senior prank. Let’s take a look at what implications a prank has beyond a potential punishment.  Every year in the school paper, I read testaments from seniors about the school they love.  They reminisce about their favorite teacher,  their favorite high school moment, their favorite class.  They start to get sad and there are always tears on the last day. 

But then, for some reason that is beyond me, seniors seek a way to cause havoc on the building and the people who have supported and loved them for four years.  It ruins the moment.  Every year the conversation among the seniors is finding a “harmless” prank.  I challenge the notion that there even is such a thing.  

The majority of pranks end in our beloved custodial and maintenance crew being put to work to undo what was done.  The people who keep your floors clean, the cafeteria beautiful, pick up endless amounts of paper towels (and who knows what else) from the bathroom floors, and manicure the iconic front lawn are now unintentionally or intentionally told that they don’t matter.  It creates a ton of extra work and cleanup for the people who silently support our building every single day. 

In all my years, I have never seen a senior prank do anything other than cause stress for students, educators, and families.  It is my experience that students who have participated in past years have regretted their actions.  They wish they had not done it.  It has never ended well.  Not once.

Please consider other ways to leave a legacy.  Do something good for the school that has supported and loved you all these years.  Extend a thank you to a teacher, a custodian, a member of the maintenance staff, a coach, or your principal.  Be a part of the senior gift by giving back to the building.  Just as the seniors did a few years back with the Senior Sunrise, start a new tradition.  Write a letter to an underclassman giving them encouragement and advice. 

Be remembered for your years of hard work and dedication, not one mistake.

Dean Clegg