Seniors anticipate prank, share reactions to rules

Yoni Zacks | Sports Editor

The senior prank. No one knows what it is beforehand, but everyone has an opinion about it. That includes our current se niors. Some times, though, it can create such a divide that no one knows what’s go ing on.

‘23 asked, “What senior prank?”

Declan O’Connell ‘23 mentioned, “no one in our grade knows what we’re doing yet… half our grade wants to trash the school and the other half want to follow the guidelines.”

William Anderson ‘23 argues, “I [Mike] Canfield made some reasonable requests, but for some seniors part of the se nior prank is being unreasonable. So, we’ll see what happens.” He furthers, “I would hope that as a grade, we can stay sponsible but still have fun.”

Some seniors were more animated in their opinions. Ryoya Yamada ‘23 shared, “It’s all over the place. There’s like 10 ideas we’re probably never gonna do. There’s not really much to do because of the administration ... They’re strict guidelines, but they’re very vague. It’s definitely more of an opinion guideline on if Canfield likes it or not.”

Emma Hausman ‘23 agrees that the rules are vague, claiming, “I don’t even know what rules there are, I don’t know if anyone knows what the rules are… all I know is Blake doesn’t want a repeat of previous years, but I don’t know what those guidelines are.” Hausman comments on their understanding of what the administration is asking, stating, “don’t severely damage the school and don’t bring in live animals, I hope that people have that capability. I think that the lack of unification of the senior prank means that the likelihood that nothing will happen is likelier than anything bad happening.”

What defines a prank? Past pranks provide examples of harmful, funny days

Kate Rekas | Opinions Editor

Zach Weiner ‘23 and Jalen Wilson ‘23 have a lightsaber battle in Steve Kaback’s block 1 Physics class. This act joined a capella singing, a senior getting carried out in a stretcher, and two students

The classic prank implemented by students was used last year by the Class of ‘22. For sale signs were scattered throughout the lawn of the school.

Oxford Languages

What is a prank?

Dictionary defines prank as “a practical joke or mischievous act.” Unfortunately, this definition provides little help, humor is relative, and the administration did not share the same sense of humor as the Class of ‘22. Because of this disconnect last year, the administration has decided to regulate this year’s prank. But is it really a prank then? Each year the senior prank exists in one form or another, some years are considered better than others, but it all depends on who you ask.

Last year, there was not just one act that made up the controversial senior prank, but a mismatched series of inconveniences, and incidents of destruction spread around the school. Students were greeted in the morning with a harmless parking lot full of cars parked horizontally or diagonally across two to three parking spaces, leaving little room for non-seniors to park. However, upon en tering the building, there was more done to the in side of the school. Rail ings were covered in a lubricating material, silly string sprayed everywhere, glitter dumped in rooms and other messy “jokes” literally littered the school. The mess and destruction after this day left a palpable sense of agitation and frustration among faculty and staff, arguably not the best way for seniors bid farewell to their teach ers.

Ivy Besikof ‘23 reflects on last year’s events, saying, “I don’t think making a mess is a prank, I would not consider last year a prank.” She hopes that this year’s class will do “something funny, that’s clever, that wouldn’t harm anyone or any property. Something that would be remembered.”

Mike Canfield, senior grade dean, speaks to his idea of a prank, saying “I think for the school, a prank, the purpose would be a group of people, a class, for example, do something that ultimately creates cohesion, identity, that they’re remembered for that’s also funny, that approaches a line maybe but doesn’t go over it.” listed Blake for sale on Craigslist and just put a for sale by owner sign in front of the school,” reflects Librarian Lizz Buchanan who has seen the good and the bad of the senior pranks in her 14 years of working as a librarian. “There was one year where they made a huge pile of library furniture which was pretty destructive. The year that they filled the study rooms with balloons was cute but they never came to clean it up, it was like a ball pit, so like there’s no follow-through,” Buchanan continues. The topic of follow-through and things being cleaned up afterwards remains a very large part of why the prank is being regulated so much. “It’s ok if they want to do something, as long as they clean Jim Arnold, the current Anatomy teacher. The theme to notice is that pranks that harm people or the school environment, such as piles of chairs, are

Can pranks be regulated and still fun?

Kate Rekas | Opinions Editor

Is it still a prank if it’s regulated? Many argue that no, a major aspect of executing a prank is mastering the element of surprise. While most senior classes do choose to execute the prank on their last day at the high school, the actual prank itself carries the surprise, and has always been a mystery to both students and staff, so there is some element of surprise left (even if senior grade dean, Mike Canfield, knows the details)!

there was a prank to end all pranks and it should’ve, they flooded the school. It was a chaotic insane experience that was completely out of hand,” says college counselor Jim Mahoney Read full article on blakespectrum.org

Following the destructive nature of Class of ‘22’s senior prank, the administration set rules for this year’s senior class. All prank plans were to be reported to and approved by the Class of ‘23’s grade dean, with a list of who will be carrying out each prank. Seniors have been made aware that those who do something not previously reported will not walk at graduation. Many seniors believe it is unfortunate that the previous prank made the administration feel as though they had to regulate this year’s class, as they believe it will damper some spirit of fun and surprise. The senior class had a grade meeting the week before their final week of school where Canfield explained the administration’s reasoning for regulating the prank, emphasizing to students that they hope “[the prank] would be something that everyone can appreciate, and and at theber it. There’s class culture and school culture around these things. Ob viously my hope for this class and what I think this class deserves is a lot of admi ration and good feeling. It’s no small feat for student leaders to help a group execute on a goal, it’s a leadership question.”

Only time will tell what this year’s “prank” will be; hopefully it is both fun for the senior class, funny, surprising, and creates minor inconveniences, but avoids any major destruction of property.

A culture change surrounding the prank is clearly necessary; last year wasn’t a prank, it was just destructive. So while it’s not ideal to have rules, it makes sense to plan ahead to make the most of the senior class’s last day.

May 12 was the one-year anniversary of Lora McManus-Graham’s infamous My-Space assembly. The My-Space VR project was meant to create belonging, yet came across as an attempt to be as uniquely racist as possible, with racial segregation, dismissal of historical racism in America, and falsification of diversity. The Office of Equity & Community Engagement (OECE) didn’t listen or change last year, but maybe they will in the fall.

Still, the OECE doesn’t seem to have changed. The 2022-2023 school year welcomed even more backlash, most notably in Aidan Tao ‘23’s senior speech criticizing the MySpace assembly’s use of the Black National anthem as a form of performative activism. The morning of his speech, Sandy Berkowitz sent out an email through the grade conferences detailing the upcoming senior speeches with discussion questions about each speech. Tao’s first question, related to equity work in the community. McManusGraham received this email. Despite this, she contacted Bill Colburn one day later, requesting to use the Bennett Gallery for a one-day installation of the My-Space VR project. On February 10, Colburn asked the members of the gallery’s curatorial team, a student-led group, whether we would accept her proposition.

I very outspokenly pushed against this idea. My thinking is that the gallery is a student-led group and that correlating students with a highly controversial, performative, and racist project makes students a bigger part of the problem than we need to be. The timing was strange and indicated a disregard towards Aidan’s criticisms. My advocacy helped prevent the project from being installed in the gallery, preventing further harm to the student body. It was the group that listened to me, not McManus-Graham.

I have tried to ask McManus-Graham more about the project for a research paper, yet I have been politely denied. I also asked Tao whether he was ever contacted by the OECE following his speech, the office had not reached out to him. It is not the students’ job to create equity at Blake when we have an office made to do so. Yet, the OECE should listen to student concerns as a way to formulate plans as to how to create equity.