Boarding School News
16 Most Unbelievable School Pranks Ever Committed
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Thu, Jul 15, 2010 @ 08:00 AM
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School News, boarding schools, CalTech, College Prep Schools, Flip Cards, Harvard, MIT, Placard, Pranks, School Pranks, Switcheroo
In addition to being known for rigorous academic programs, cut-throat athletics or a prestigious history of tradition, the following schools and universities have also earned a reputation for some of the best school pranks of all time. Creative, clever and most of all, unexpected, check out this list of 16 of the Most Unbelievable School Pranks Ever Committed that earned national and even international attention for their respective alma matter.
Check out our list of the 16 Most Unbelievable School Pranks Ever Committed and let us know what you think!
1. There's No Stopping Them
Auburn University is well-known for its football program. Its rivalry with Georgia Tech, which originated in 1892, is equally well-known. That rivalry came to a head in 1896, when Auburn students decided to "grease the skids" of an Auburn football win over Georgia Tech by lubricating the train tracks and platform at the Auburn Train Station with grease and lard the night before the train carrying Georgia Tech's football team was to arrive. The next morning, as anticipated, the train's efforts to stop at the station were a complete failure. The train blew past the station by at least five miles before it was able to stop. After having to walk the five miles back to the station, Georgia Tech's team was easily defeated 45-0 by Auburn.
Source
2. Harvard's Fish Story
2. Harvard's Fish Story
Since the eighteenth century, a five-foot-long wooden carving of a cod fish has hung above the entrance to the chamber of the House of Representatives in the Massachusetts State House as a symbol of the importance of the cod to the region's early economy. The fish hung in its lofty position for years until the 1933 staff of the Harvard Lampoon, Harvard University's monthly humor magazine, decided it needed to be acquired. Despite its importance to the Massachusetts legislature, the cod was left surprisingly unguarded. Obtaining it took little effort. Three Lampoon staffers walked into the statehouse and surreptitiously snipped the two wires holding the cod, lowered it into a long flower box, and walked out. The theft caused quite the uproar in Boston but only 50 hours later the cod was returned without incident and hung again in the state house - albeit six inches higher.
Source
3. Veterans of Future Wars
3. Veterans of Future Wars
When World War I veterans lobbied Congress in 1935 to receive their war bonuses ten years early, to ease the strains of the Great Depression, the Harrison Bonus Bill was born. So was an idea. Princeton senior Lewis Gorin decided that if present-day veterans could get their bonuses early, why shouldn't future veterans be prepaid for their service – before fighting in a war?! Gorin lobbied that all male citizens between 18 and 36 should be paid a $1,000 war bonus on June 1, 1965. The Veterans of Future Wars movement spread quickly, with local chapters springing up on college campuses nationwide, with spin-off groups, such as the Association of Gold Star Mothers of Future Veterans, following suit. (Although it was originally meant to be a satirical look at government, all but two members of the Princeton VFW ended up fighting in World War II.)
Source
4. Placard Switcheroo
4. Placard Switcheroo
Flip-cards seen at football games are generally used to spell out a word or phrase related to the teams on the field. The 1961 Rose Bowl game between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Washington Huskies was an exception and one of the first pranks involving flip-cards. During half-time at the game, spectators picked up the stack of cards from their seats and began to turn them over as instructed, revealing a series of gigantic images for people watching on TV. All was going according to plan until the fourteenth image when instead of showing the word "Huskies," the thousands of placards spelled "Caltech," the prank-happy school just down the road in Pasadena. Later, one of the Caltech students responsible admitted that a fellow prankster had posed as a reporter and asked the head Washington cheerleader how the flip-card system worked. Then other team members gained access to the cheerleaders' hotel rooms and switched instruction sheets.
New Hampton School to Begin iPad Pilot Program for All Ninth Graders
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Mon, Jun 21, 2010 @ 11:32 AM
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School News, boarding schools, Gifted Students, Int'l. Baccalaureate
New Hampton School to Begin iPad Pilot Program for All Ninth Graders
June 21, 2010
June 21, 2010
NEW HAMPTON, NH -- New Hampton School is pleased to announce the introduction of an iPad pilot program for incoming ninth-grade students beginning in September.
All ninth-grade students and selected faculty members will receive iPads as part of the program, which was funded by a recent reunion gift from the New Hampton School Class of 1960. The pilot program will inform how the school will continue to improve technology integration in the classroom and prepare students for college and beyond.
“It’s been our vision to be a nationally recognized innovator in how we deliver curriculum and durable skills to our students,” says Head of School Andrew Menke. “This pilot program affords us the opportunity to create an environment of exploration for our students.”
Menke says that the school will evaluate the implementation of the iPad in the ninth graders’ experience, and then decide whether the iPad will be fully integrated into the school experience for all students.
New Hampton School Technology Integration Coordinator Hans Mundahl says that the pilot program is much more than giving a slick, new device to a group of curious students.
“It is a tool that will help our students solve problems,” says Mundahl. “We’re hoping to enable students and teachers to work creatively with one another in new ways. It has the chance to transform the way faculty teach and the way students learn.”
40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LARGEST HIGH SCHOOL ROWING REGATTA IN NORTH AMERICA HOSTED BY BRENTWOOD COLLEGE SCHOOL
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Wed, Apr 14, 2010 @ 04:40 PM
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School News, School Sports, Co-Ed Schools
Every April, an average of 50 rowing clubs and over 1500 high school rowers travel to Mill Bay, British Columbia, Canada for the biggest high school rowing event on the continent. The event is hosted for three days by Brentwood College School and this year we are celebrating our fortieth anniversary of this annual event.
New Hampton School Authorized as International Baccalaureate Diploma School
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Allison "AJ" Miller
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Thu, Apr 01, 2010 @ 01:41 PM
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School News
New Hampton, NH, April 1, 2010—New Hampton School is now the only New England boarding school authorized to award the prestigious International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma (www.ibo.org). The School recently received official confirmation from the IB, which includes more than 2,800 schools in 138 countries.
“This is such aremarkable day for New Hampton School,” Head of School Andrew Menke said. “It both accomplishes yet another of our strategic goals adopted three years ago, and allows our students to truly embrace a changing world that is more interconnected and interdependent thanever.”
An internationally recognized diploma program founded in 1968, the IB encourages students to be active learners, well-rounded individuals, and engaged world citizens. The IB diploma calls for New Hampton School students to take a series of six classes over a two-year period. Those classes will be interconnected holistically through a series of core ideas that are taught through an additional class called “Theory of Knowledge.”
The IB demands three core requirements beyond classwork including the extended essay, the “Theory of Knowledge” class, and a creativity/action/service requirement.
“The IB validates the potential of our students to be competitive and productive citizens in an international arena,” said New Hampton School Director of Studies Jennifer Berry. “Additionally, IB diploma students will meet rigorous and comprehensive academic standards.”
