By Benjamin Hong, Staff Writer
On the morning of May 18, as students trickled into their first-period classes, the class of 2023 gathered together in the media center. This year’s senior prank put construction and planning skills to the test, as the night prior, a group of seniors built a massive blanket fort. Complete with a Nicki Minaj flag and Cars blankets, the impressive fortress was built in only a few hours in the middle of the media center. The next day, seniors were able to have one last experience together before inevitably parting ways for good at the end of the year.
Although in the end the blanket fort was a resounding success, there were many hurdles to overcome in its implementation, most notably among them being the process of determining which prank to carry out. Jocelyn Baker, one of the lead organizers of the prank stated that “we had an original plan to do a wedding but it got down to the last minute and it seemed like it would be a lot to plan in just one night, so we ended up talking to Mrs. Lidgard about what the guidelines were for the senior prank and came to a decision to turn the media center into a fort.” She also cited the difficulty of deciding “what two people would end up getting married” as a major reason why the prank was changed.
However, despite the eventual success of the blanket fort, and a particularly noteworthy waffle maker, Baker still maintained perspective on the bigger picture. When asked what drove her to organize the event and why she felt it was important to do so, she responded by saying that “Time was moving fast and our last day of senior year was about to come to a close so all of us really wanted to do something that would bring us together as a grade and give us a fun way to say goodbye to our last days of high school.”
The origins of the tradition of a “senior prank” is lost to time, with evidence from a multitude of sources suggesting it to have begun in the US anywhere from 1936 to as recently as the late ’70s. However, as with most traditions, what matters most is not its history, but the way in which it is carried out today. River Hill’s principal Mikaela Lidgard commented on the senior prank’s importance as a yearly event, stating that “it’s a long-standing tradition at a lot of high schools, that idea of a senior prank that is something that doesn’t hurt anyone or disrespect anyone or create permanent damage, and I think it can really help bring the class together.”
This sentiment was echoed by many students, as while a blanket fort may be comparatively underwhelming compared to previous pranks such as bringing chickens onto school grounds or the relocation of an entire classroom’s worth of furniture, the prank was still a success. As senior Sam Scott asserts, “It’s a school spirit thing that we can actually do on our own. It’s not run by adults and it’s a good way for us to express ourselves independently.”
While the blanket fort was eventually taken down and the prank came to a close after only a few hours, the memories made and experiences had during its construction and execution in that short time frame were valuable nonetheless. Ms. Lidgard found this aspect of the senior prank to be of particular importance, noting that “there can be times when there can be some disagreement about what we should do, but taking the leadership to bring the class together is something that I think is a really good experience, especially as folks are ending their high school journey. This event certainly showcased their creativity, ingenuity, and construction skills,” and served as an appropriate send-off for the next generation of River Hill alumni.