On Thursday, May 19, St. George’s seniors transformed the St. George’s Collierville campus into Seaside, Flor., as they brought students and teachers to 30A with the annual senior prank.

Seniors had been planning the prank for about two weeks and decided on the 30A theme because of its tie to St. George’s.

“Coming up with the idea was a relatively long process, and we finally arrived at the idea of a beach theme after exploring numerous other options,” senior Jake Lindow said. “It was a really collaborative process, and the final result was truly a culmination of so many different peoples ideas. This was something that I think really brought our class together, and it was great to see so many people working together to make this happen.”

The class of 2016 arrived at school at about 8:30pm on Wednesday night, May 18, and stayed until 12pm, and they came around 5:30am to finish. Although some parts of the prank were not approved, Lindow voiced that it was all done with good intentions.

“There was some miscommunication that created some confusion with what was and wasn’t approved,” Lindow said. “While there were a few parts of the prank that leaned towards inappropriate, everything that happened was all in good fun, and nothing had malicious intent.”

The prank itself took place in the morning and involved middle and upper school students. As student drivers arrived on campus, they were stopped by seniors at the stop signs, all of whom were wearing beach attire and pool floats, and redirected them to the fieldhouse, where they had to park up until this year when the closer parking lots were built.

Parking at the fieldhouse did not sit well with many students, especially those who are glad they no longer have to park at the fieldhouse.

“I thought [the prank] was good, but I’m kind of frustrated about having to park in the field house,” junior Grace Bennett said. “That kind of sucked.”

Once students walked to the academic building, they were given a lei in the beach theme and proceeded into school, where they navigated past the seniors with water guns and water balloons, especially since some students were sprayed with water.

Major highlights of the prank included the balloon wall in the stairwell, so high that the balloons almost made it to the second floor, and English teacher Mr. Jamie Roszel’s room being transformed into Mr. Wilson Taylor’s old room again. Mr. Wilson Taylor was a beloved faculty member by the class of 2016, and the seniors covered Mr. Roszel’s room with hundreds of photos of Mr. Taylor. However, the photos were taken done soon after school began.

“Mr. Taylor’s last year of teaching at SGIS was with us, and he was a teacher that was really enjoyed by our class, and we wanted to do something special to show our appreciation for him, even though he wasn’t here,” Lindow said. “We sent him a picture of the room, and he thought it was hilarious, so I hope everyone saw that portion of the prank, and any others for that matter, in the fun and lighthearted manner they were intended.”

All in all, students seemed to enjoy the prank.

“I liked it. I thought it was better than last year because it was more creative,” sophomore Mason Williams said. “My favorite part was the balloon ball pit.”

“I thought the senior prank really embodied the class of 2016,” junior Hayes Franklin said. “It was a very creative and outside-the-box prank that was fun to be a part of.”

In addition, many members of the junior class are already looking forward to their prank next year and have begun discussing ideas.

“We’re going to blow it out of the water,” Bennett said. “It’s going to be 20 times better than theirs.”