I slept fitfully, fully aware of the impending alarm that I feared I would not wake up to. We’d had a meeting early in the week and had laid out the parameters they were given to work within:

-They were not allowed to delay the seniors past 5:10am so there wouldn’t be a chance they’d miss their train
-They were not to use unauthorized school equipment
-They were not allowed to cause destruction of property
-They were to think about their targets (Student X might be okay with a water balloon, student Y not so much)
-They were to try to execute something that is fun to be on the receiving end of, not just the pulling end of (think “do unto others as you’d have them do unto you”

Beyond that, I told them, PLEASE, do not tell me what you are planning. I trust you to stay in the bounds, so be creative and have fun! I knew that if I was told what they were planning my cautious side would get nervous and tell them no, even if it did meet the parameters. So, Saturday July 5th I rolled out of bed before 4am, wrapped myself in a blanket and shuffled to the parking lot where the busses were parked. Students began lumbering up, some well-organized, others just there for the vibes and memories. Toilet paper rolls came in their hands. Some kids set them down, others picked them up, weaving strips of TP between busses. A bathtub was procured from who knows where and placed in the luggage cage on top of one of the other busses.

I stood there stupefied, wondering where the rest of the students were… was this it? Ah yes, to stop the busses you need a barricade on the road. I waltzed a few hundred yards east and found the students I’d been waiting for. Soccer goals had been traipsed up from the field below, a campfire was being lit in the middle of the road.

A stash of cinderblocks had been relayed from behind the maintanance department and erected into a solid cement wall. In front of that, the cement mixer itself stood, ready to add to the blockade.

“Water balloons” was mentioned, but never executed while, “firecrackers” were muttered about as other students found a hiding place in the culvert alongside the road.

They waited and waited until finally, the busses rolled up and out- all signs of TP having been removed from the busses and the bathtub discovered and discarded. They slowed for the first stop: Students in a circle screaming nonsense in the middle of the road. The seniors, ever good sports and loving it themselves, came oozing out of the bus, breaking up the circle and dragging the firepit to the side of the road. The juniors ran up the road, banging on the sides of the busses, only to be met with open windows and water dumped on THEIR heads!

Next came the wall- the same crew of senior guys started to grab the cement mixer to roll it off the road when BANG! POW! POP! They boys scattered as the first set of firecrackers went off from INSIDE the cement mixer. In the chaos, they hadn’t seen the junior guys crawl out of their hiding place in the culvert and drop them in the barrel. A good scare later and they realized the firecrackers were harmless. Another round of firecrackers went off in the middle of the road as the mixer was moved and one by one the cinderblock wall was dismantled and tossed into the grass.

The soccer goals had been planted in hopes that to pass, the seniors would be required to score a couple goals, but the seniors couldn’t be slowed to be given any kind of instruction on what proper cooperation looked like.

More fire-crackers, a roman candle or two even added to the mix.

All of the barricades had been cleared, and I heard some juniors shout, “IT’S 5:07-WE GOT THREE MORE MINUTES! MACARENA! LETS GO!”

They formed a line across the road, in perfect unison dancing to a song sung of their own voices. The best part was the unplanned, unparalleled timing of the “EEEEHHHHHH MACARENA!” accompanied by a little butt wiggle that happened just as the headlights of the first bus illuminated their fancy moves.

A couple honks and slowly rolling tires later as the bus approached their line, and the dancing broke up. More banging, another roman candle and more firecrackers went off. Students started hanging off the back of the busses in one last ditch effort to slow the busses even by a millisecond.

The gate was lifted and the seniors passed through.

Juniors everywhere were laughing with glee. They began returning things to their proper places.

“Coffee at my place!” I yelled, remembering that I had cleaned the whole house the day before and it was EVEN presentable. Cleaning continued and the numbers of students remaining began to dwindle. “Pancakes too if you want them!” Students kept hauling, replacing and cleaning TP. Only a few remained, “I think bacon could be arranged…”

So, less than 12 hours after I’d fed 8 students dinner, I fed another 10 breakfast. Some of them stuck around just long enough for the bacon to sizzle, others grabbed a coffee and left, and yet a few lingered till almost 7am on my couches until I could barely keep my eyes open, but knew I needed to shower and start my day in order to keep the plans I already had.

Coming back from town around 2pm, I sat down to grade, prep for the next week and generally keep my head above water.

By 4:30pm, I was already prepping for the next thing: Class party.

If you thought feeding 8 or 10 students is a feat, wait till you hear what class party entails! Yes, there is a team of about 8 sponsors making it happen, and students who help do the cooking, and yet, it is still a feat to feed 75 mouths, provide entertainment through various activities, all while supervising to ensure the students don’t run off and disturb the other grades hosting their own parties at nearby venues.

I brought my contributions over, hunted down parts of the meal we’d asked the cafeteria to make, brought them over, unlocked doors, began prepping counters, taking inventory of what we did and didn’t have, still needed, or still needed to do.

The steaks went on the grills about 6pm and students began mingling on the field and in the gym while a crew of guys manned the grill.

We gathered for a short video celebration reminder of our time spent this year on Banquet, a time of recognition and thanks to our current class officers, announcing next years’ officers, prayer, and instruction of the rest of the evening before releasing the students to eat and play.

They loaded up their plated with loaded baked potatoes, marinated steak fresh off the grill, salad, chips, carrots, sodas, ya know, the works. After plates were cleared, the mattresses brought from the dorms became the main attraction as a giant pillow fight filled half of the gym, a game of volleyball still going on the other side. Lights periodically went off- only one nose got broken- and general fun was had by all. My favorite to watch was the group of guys who eventually teamed up, holding about 4 different mattresses who would select their target, usually some pretty girl, surround her with mattresses on all sides, wrap her in one of them and lower her to the ground before releasing her to run away. After taking a second attendance, noting the students who had dipped early and needed to be written up, I joined the rousing game of Volleyball, executing flawlessly my first set to one of my hitters on the side. Eventually 9pm came and we sent the students home, lingering another 20 minutes as adults to get all our cleaning finished.

The night came and I once more collapsed into my bed, excitement for the next morning building even as I wondered where the energy for it would come from…

Come back tomorrow for a quick burst through all the craziness the next five days held…