Senior pranks have been a rite of passage in many high schools and have ranged from the annoying and mundane (setting off stink bombs and fire alarms) to the slightly more imaginative (turning dogs or wild animals loose in schools’ hallways or putting “For Sale” real estate signs in their front yards). One story has it that some RHS seniors many years ago cemented a toilet to the building’s front porch. (Publisher’s Note: It’s True: Class of 1980)
However, one group of seniors in the early ‘80s outdid all others and gave everyone coming into the school something to laugh about. The school’s sewage treatment plant for many years was located west of the building in a fenced- in yard. It had a rotating aerator and produced odiferous fumes that plagued classrooms to the west,especially during warm months when the wind was from that direction. But one day during Senior Week, people coming in the west driveway were greeted by a large teddy bear sitting in the middle of the aerator with a huge sign on the wall surrounding it: RHS MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN.
Actually the class of 1980 did most of those pranks mentioned in Mrs. Reed’s article: A Leroy Township native who raised pigs let a pig loose in the hall (still not giving up the name of that prankster), we hijacked as many For Sale signs as we could from yards and packed the front lawn of the school AND we cemented a toilet to the steps. We also hung a tire from the pole on top of RHS and painted ’80 on the roof below it. As yearbook photographer, I have all the evidence!
The class of 1980 was uniquely creative, I think. The 1980 yearbook feartures a Table of Contents which was a photo of the graffiti building, located west of the School on Riverside Drive, painted as the Contents page. The staff and other selected seniors spent a lovely October Saint NEOTA Day with buckets and brushes. I was sad to see that building razed. I suspect its actual dimensions were smaller than it appeared, its original length and width augmented by one or two feet thick layers of historical graffiti. These are such fond memories.
The only prank I recall was in the spring of 1961 when members of the football team picked up science teacher, Mr. Spondike’s Volkswagon and placed it on the front steps of the school. No harm was done to the car, so it was considered a good prank by the ‘adults.’
PS – In the fall of 1960, we had the first championship football team in RHS’ short history. We beat Harvey High for the first time, and the owner of Helrigels Restaurant, whose son was a reserve on the team, treated us all to a steak dinner. The night we beat Ashtabula HS for a shrare of the championship, Wickliffe HS beat Geneva HS 98-0. I have the Telegraph news clipping about both games.