On Monday, June 1, 2026, Encinal students walked onto campus to find an array of cars parked in front of the 200 building near the front quad. With streamers, water balloons, and writing on windows and walls, students could immediately tell it was Senior Prank Day.
At first, the prank appeared relatively tame and largely harmless, similar to senior pranks in previous years. However, it soon became clear there was more to the prank than initially met the eye.
Desks and tables were removed from several classrooms and covered in baby oil. Baby oil had also been spilled across floors, door handles and a teacher’s classroom. In addition, hot dogs were placed on classroom door handles and strewn about the hallways
By 8:15 a.m. seniors were required to clean up the mess. Failure to do so could result in the loss of senior privileges, including cancellation of senior breakfast.
“I thought it was really funny. I think that the baby oil was definitely a bit too far,” said an anonymous senior. “Just because it’s super hard to clean. At the end of the day, us seniors do have to clean up those types of things.”
Two classrooms, specifically a marketing classroom and a math classroom, were covered in liquids. Mr. Lyons’ room was covered with baby oil, while the other was covered with hot dog water. Students who vandalized the math classroom also spilled water on the teacher’s personal computer, damaging it.
Similar acts occurred across the school. Students damaged a teacher’s air conditioner by pouring bubble solution into it, broke a projector after spilled liquids caused it to overheat, and vandalized several calculators.
“I feel bad because we messed up people’s stuff, messed up computers, calculators and it sucks because they have to pay for that,” said another senior who chose to remain anonymous. “If they want to do something about it, I feel like they should because we really went too far. I wish we didn’t break [or] ruin anything.”
The prank continued as seniors posted AI-generated and inappropriate images of teachers and staff around the school. Many of the images were met with light reactions, but a few sparked strong emotions.
“I just wish they would have thought about it a little more. The tables moving, pictures, all that stuff, that’s fun and games. I love that stuff,” said Lyons. “But when it starts to get to the point where it has to be cleaned up [by others], and other people have to pay the price [for their actions], that’s when it becomes a problem.”
Since the prank, the school has begun an investigation, even delaying the distribution of graduation tickets until the inquiry concludes. There is speculation that the school will bar a subset of students involved in the prank from walking the stage at graduation. Other students will be kept from attending the senior breakfast, depending on the severity of the offense.
“I would think it started off as good-natured fun, and I suspect that a few people went off the rails and did things that they shouldn’t have done. When you cross the line between easy-to-clean-up and actually damaging and vandalizing property, that’s a line you shouldn’t cross,” said English teacher Kevin McNulty. “I hope that people aren’t not able to walk the stage, [but] I’m really grateful that we have admin that will consider those consequences. Because sometimes we need consequences for things that are really inappropriate.”
Many felt the prank lacked planning, and to an extent, that was true. The prank had been planned only a day or two prior, and many original ideas were canceled. Previously, seniors had planned to sleep on the field, but the idea was shot down. Other elements were added later, and because of the poor planning, students ultimately had the freedom to do as they pleased.
“I don’t think there was a thought process. I think it was so last second they thought they could just do anything. And that’s not the way a senior prank should operate, it should be fun and should be memorable,” said leadership teacher Kevin Gorham. “I think it was just like a traditional senior prank, something memorable. But unfortunately people took it too far, and it wasn’t what it was meant to be.”
