Walking into the school first thing on May 22 was a shock. A horse skeleton in the lobby, balloons in the toilets, and chairs hanging from the ceiling greeted the students of East High. It was all remnants of the class of 2017, and their final salute to high school.

“The purpose of the senior prank was to have one last hurrah as a class before graduation,” said senior Claire Olson.

As several of them advertised on social media, the seniors were able to get inside the school Sunday night to spread toilet paper down the halls, stack desks in classrooms and generally create a spirited mess.

“I bet there was between 50 and 100 people participating at the height of the prank,” Olson said.

East High principal Sam Mirich was on board with the seniors.

“I thought the senior prank was fine,” Mr. Mirich said. “I appreciated the fact that certain students came to talk to me to let me know what their thoughts were and what they were going to do and that they’d be willing to clean up.”

The cliché senior prank is the one thing that many underclassmen look forward to for the end of their high school career. Many of them plan how they’ll sabotage the school from their freshman year, and they get multiple ideas from the senior classes preceding them as they continue to show their creativity. Olson explained the class had considered a beach day as another option.

Everyone who could show helped with their last appearance in high school.

“It didn’t matter who you were or who your friends were, we just all came together for the same thing,” said Olson.

When planning your future senior prank, take Mr. Mirich’s advice: “A senior prank is okay for kids to let loose and have a little bit of fun as long as they don’t take it too far.”

Keep this in mind for your senior year and put some good thought into the “one last hoorah” before you move on to the next part of your life.