Happy April Fools’ Day!  I have an interesting story about this day that takes us back a few years. Four years, to be exact.

Back in seventh grade, my friends Devon Wood, Katie Breeden, and I had no real plans for April Fools’ Day. We showed up to school like normal and carried about our day like any other. But halfway through our day, we realized we had a perfect opportunity. We were allowed to work in the commons area of our classroom wing during work time, where the teacher rarely was. We had construction paper, scissors and an idea.

You may not remember, but around the building of Summit are some posters of famous paintings, such as “American Gothic” and “Mona Lisa.” Now,  just to forewarn you, back in seventh grade, Devon, Katie, and I weren’t necessarily mature. “We taped drawings of giant smiles over the frowns displayed on the ‘American Gothic,’ glasses and a mustache on the ‘Mona Lisa,’ and made alterations to several other painting as well,” Breeden said.

We tried to be cool about it by acting as if we were “going to the bathroom” so if the teacher asked, we had an excuse. We took turns going out into the school, but I think it was obvious that we didn’t have to take construction paper mustaches and tape with us to the bathroom. Plus, we were devious seventh graders who kept giggling at our master plan. “We were just being stupid kids,” Wood said.

After the deed was done, we went back to class and acted like nothing happened. Well, tried to at least. We were looking at each other and breaking into giggling fits so I’m sure our teacher knew what was up. Then there was the announcement. “Can Devon Wood, Natalie Larimer, and Katie Breeden please report to the principal’s office?

We were terrified. As we walked down to the office, I was telling them, “I will take all the blame. Just throw me under the bus.” It was probably the longest walk of my life. I thought I would get a detention (for the first time in my life) or suspended.

Once we got there, they had us sit in the principal’s office for a while on our own. “We waited and waited for a good five minutes as tension mounted,” Breeden said. “I was especially concerned, as I have always been the nerd who never does anything wrong and never gets in trouble.”

After about five minutes of silence, the principal, Mrs. (Linda) Hansen, popped her head in and yelled, “APRIL FOOLS’!” We didn’t know how to react. She pranked us back and we had no clue how to handle it. “I didn’t think it was funny at the
time, although she seemed to consider it to be the greatest joke ever,” Breeden said. “In retrospect, it does make for an excellent story.”