Pranks such as the one Alyssa Hetrick pulled on the whole school and principal could be viewed as once in a blue moon enlightenment for the school. When it comes to April Fool’s Day, some students may forget it happens until one small prank is pulled on them.  

Sophomore Emma Kianka pulled pranks before and has her own favorite prank. 

“Once I told my sister we were not going to a concert and then my mom, other sister, me and the original sister drove to Pittsburgh and saw Shawn Mendes. My sister was completely surprised and I loved seeing her reaction. It wasn’t a bad prank and ended with us all having a great time and almost meeting Shawn Mendes,” Kianka said.

Similarly, sophomore Mason Dale pulled pranks as well. 

“My friends and I once went to Connor Adams house. They have a football that is signed by Tom Brady because Connor’s dad loves football. He always tells us not to touch it, so when he went upstairs we took the football and hid it. One of our friends bought a football and deflated it. When he came back down we said we popped it. He spent the next two hours coming up with a plan and freaked out. He ended up calling his dad and told him he popped it. Connor got grounded for a week,” Dale said. 

Junior Eli Peteuli pulled a prank on fellow Mountain Echo staff member, freshman Abigail Shearer on Friday, April 1. The prank consisted of planning for all students in the class on Friday to not immediately go to the classroom and to wait in the science commons. Shearer often is the last one to enter the classroom, where the prank comes into play. Peteuli imagined that Shearer would walk into the classroom and sit down just to be greeted by junior Cassidy Klock. Klock planned to run into the room and greet Shearer, telling her she was in the wrong room and leave. Where Shearer would soon follow after. After arriving at the science commons, the class would reveal everything to be a prank. 

“My job for the Mountain Echo along with Peyton Daniel is team bonding; I decided to do a prank where we single one person out, not in a mean way, and we chose her [Shearer] because she is the last person to enter the classroom. I thought that everyone hiding would be laughing but Abby was going to be genuinely concerned and then she would follow Cassidy and maybe be a little embarrassed but end up laughing.” Peteuli said. 

“It didn’t go according to plan. It was a good idea, it just didn’t happen how it was supposed to,” Shearer said. 

Dale participates in pranks with good spirits while enjoying them; although he believes there are times where pranks are misused. 

“When I was in school, I had to give a presentation in English about a history movie, and my two friends who were my partners skipped and instead of sending our teacher our real slides, they sent the Bee Movie script. It was really embarrassing standing up there ready to talk about the movie and Barry Bee Benson was on the screen. Overall, it was something easily forgotten about. I mostly have good memories because most of the time I am on the giving end, but it does suck when you are getting pranked and it goes too far,” Dale said. 

For Kianka, pranks result in good feelings.  

“I told my friend we were going roller skating and when we weren’t actually in reality. She was mad but didn’t care that much. Another time, my mom said she didn’t get me anything for my birthday, but she got me a video from my favorite Youtubers. I loved the gift and it made me so happy. I was upset at first but I caught on to the fact it was a prank and I went along with it,” Kianka said. 

Pranks may also leave students with mixed feelings. Some  believe they are harmless most of the time yet they could go wrong if used in the wrong context. Kianka views them as funny and likes to watch nonviolent pranks. However, she believes that pranks are “cringey to watch” when they start going downhill and she feels embarrassed for the students. 

Likewise, Dale feels the same. 

“I think pranks are good because they have a good sense of humor, but if they go too far it can be harmful to others. It depends on what is being done because sometimes pranks are really bad than they are cheesy or they can be fake. If they are well planned and orchestrated, then they are good,” Dale said.