Friday, May 22, 2009

Re: Authorized but cool senior pranks?

The Seniors at Hargrave papered the Main Administrative Hall with
various colors of ...Post-It notes. They did the walls, doors windows
and part of the floor. They left a walk area down the center of the
hall. We have several portraits of past presidents, the founders of the
school, alumni and none of these were touched. It was great.

Joe Merricks
Math Instructor
Hargrave Military Academy
200 Military Drive
Chatham, VA 24531
merricksj@hargrave.edu

>>> Dave Wang <dwang@Bayschoolsf.org> 05/22/09 10:59 AM >>>
For what it's worth, at the two schools I've taught at in my career,
I've always tried to get seniors to adhere to the following senior prank
"rules of thumb":

1. Any prank involving the moving of furniture, cars, or other large
objects to strange locations has already been done. Surely you can be
more creative than that?

2. Ditto any prank involving the suspension of pieces clothing from
places high above the ground.

3. Ditto any prank involving the placement of live animals in strange
locations.

4. The general daily routine of the school should not be disrupted in
any way. While some teachers may take such a prank in stride, others
will undoubtedly feel that losing class time at the end of the year
isn't a good idea. A good prank should never cause harm to the entire
community.

5. If a prank is going to target one specific member of the community
(the Head of School, the Dean of Students, etc.), be darn sure that the
prank is done affectionately and not out of spite or malice.

6. A prank should be completely reversible and be completely reversed
when it's over. No prank should ever cause damage to the school's
facilities or to someone's personal property.

In general, the fun challenge is to devise a good, original prank that
actually adds to the school's sense of community in a positive way
rather than one that thumbs the seniors' collective noses at the school
as they walk out the door.

-- Dave Wang


<O><O><O><O><O><O><O><O><O><O>
Dave Wang
Mathematics teacher
The Bay School of San Francisco
www.bayschoolsf.org
(w) (415) 561-5800 x 119

I have not failed. I have merely found 10,000 ways which do not work.

- Thomas Edison

You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change
something, build a new model which makes the existing model obsolete.

- Buckminster Fuller

> -----Original Message-----
> From: A forum for independent school educators [mailto:ISED-
> L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Melissa Tredenick
> Sent: Friday, May 22, 2009 6:55 AM
> To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
> Subject: Re: Authorized but cool senior pranks?
>
> Hi Lorrie-
>
> From my experience it seems that the ultimate goal of the "authorized
> but cool" prank is to delay school. While I have seen some bad
attempts
> (chaining the hallway doors closed), the one that actually worked and
> was clever was to take all the desks from the classrooms and move them
> down to the track, neatly lined up around the edge of it. They then
> took the keys to all the school pickup trucks so students and teachers
> had to bring the chairs back up one by one...We missed at least first
> period, if not second.
>
> Another part of that same prank was to place alarm clocks throughout
the
> chapel that went off at various times during chapel service. That
was
> a clever class...
>
> Good luck with yours!
>
> Melissa Tredenick
> Director of Technology
> Christ School
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lorrie Jackson [mailto:ljackson@lausanneschool.com]
> Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2009 3:09 PM
> To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
> Subject: Authorized but cool senior pranks?
>
> We've increased security on campus this year and our seniors' efforts
to
> prank us after graduation have been successfully thwarted. This is a
> really great class and we'd love to actually collaborate on a cool but
> safe senior prank. Anyone had success
> with this and want to share an idea? Reply off-list if you would like
> (and let me know off-list if you want to hear what responses I get).
> Thanks!
>
> Lorrie
>
> Lorrie Jackson
> Director of Communications and Marketing
> Lausanne Collegiate School (Memphis, TN, USA)
> 901-474-1003
> ljackson@lausanneschool.com
> www.lausanneschool.com
> Skype: lorriejackson
> Twitter: lausanneschool or lorriej
> Find Lausanne Collegiate School on Facebook!
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
> Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons,
> attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
> RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=ISED-L
>
> [ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
> Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons,
attribution,
> non-commercial, share-alike license.
> RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=ISED-L

[ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons,
attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=ISED-L

[ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=ISED-L