No seriously, I’m asking for real, I’ve had an amazingly long weekend and need more coffee, more sleep and more time in the day and in my life to fit in all the wonderfulness.

New Directions School in Texas

The Class of 2009 marks graduation
By SANDRA ENGELLAND  |  Wednesday, Jun. 10, 2009  |  www.kellercitizen.com

Keller district seniors celebrated the end of their high school days in various ways over the last week.

Graduation for most Class of 2009 members took place Saturday at the Tarrant County Convention Center in downtown Fort Worth.

The district’s smallest spring commencement was perhaps the most eventful. Jerad Markham, a graduating senior from New Directions High School, proposed to fellow student Stephanie Feidler in front of the crowd near the end of festivities Thursday in the Rock Gym in Keller.

“I couldn’t think of any better way to propose because the whole staff at New Directions has been so supportive of us, and my whole family was there,” Markham said.

Markham had planned with Principal Kenneth Anderson to pop the question as part of the ceremony. After handing out diplomas, Anderson called Markham up to the microphone to talk about the importance of relationships. Markham asked Feidler to join him, went down on one knee and pulled out a ring.

Smiling through happy tears, Feidler said, “Yes.”

The two teens have been dating for several years and have a 16-month-old daughter, Emily.

Anderson said he had several discussions with Markham in recent weeks, and the student said he wanted to take responsibility for his life and family and to make some positive changes. He has enlisted in the Army and said both he and his fiancée plan to continue their educations beyond high school.

Anderson said the district’s alternative education program had 21 spring graduates, the most ever. The school is geared towards at-risk students who choose to attend. They can work on an accelerated program or receive individual instruction to help them graduate on time. The school also offers special assistance to teen parents.

“The kids are so excited about getting to this point. Many of them have stumbled and they’ve picked themselves back up to where there are open doors to their future,” Anderson said.

Many of the New Directions graduates plan to go to Tarrant County College but others have been admitted to the University of Texas, the University of Texas at Arlington, the University of North Texas and Texas State University.

Link to an older video that may or may nor work. This clip is from before their sentences were appealed.
Students Build Swing Set On Brookfield East Roof
Students Will Get To Participate In Graduation Ceremony
June 5, 2009  |  WISN.com

Elmbrook administrators suspended six Brookfield East seniors this week after police ticketed them for erecting a swing set on the school’s roof.

Early Friday night, the superintendent and the prinicipal changed their minds and decided the students will get to participate in the graduation ceremony on Saturday in spite of their suspension.

Nate Hoaglund, Zachary Domach and Alexander Holiday are among the academic cream of the crop at Brookfield East, 12 News reporter Colleen Henry said.

“Out of the six of us we had ranks, 1, 2, 5, 10,” Domach said.

Originally the district told them and three of their friends they couldn’t participate in Saturday’s graduation because they were the masterminds of this year’s senior prank.

“We didn’t want anything that would disrupt education or cost the school district money — something that would just basically be harmful,” Domach said.

“We decided we would assemble a swing set on top of the school roof,” Holiday said.

The guys said their prank was designed to send their schoolmates a message.

“We picked it because it wasn’t harmful or anything, and it was also supposed to show people that you can do pranks without damaging property or hurting anyone,” Hoaglund said.

Early Wednesday morning, police found the teenagers on the school roof assembling the $230 swing set they bought for the occasion.

School administrators wanted to send their own message.

“Kids are kids. Rules are rules. You don’t make a separate set of rules for the top of the class. If anything, they have more responsibility to set a good example for the others,” Elmbrook School Superintendent Matt Gibson said.

The district suspended the six for three days, which had included graduation. Holiday was the class valedictorian.

“They just had to delete him from the program entirely,” Hoaglund said.

“What were you going to say in your speech?” Henry asked.

“I was going to talk about, well, I don’t think I can discuss that because there’s still a slight possibility that I might be able to use that,” Holiday said.

The boys’ parents appealed the decision, and the students offered alternatives, such as community service or janitorial work at the school.

“None of us thinks that our actions should go unpunished, but we would advocate for a punishment that suits the prank,” Holiday said.

The students have July court dates where they face $290 fines for prowling.

Copyright 2009 by WISN.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Kapolei High School

Random shot of the school's marching band.

Prank Nixes Kapolei H.S. President From Graduation
7 Students Banned From Walking At Ceremony
June 4, 2009  |  KITV.com
HONOLULU — A pre-graduation prank will mean no graduation ceremony for several Kapolei High School students, including the senior class president.

Police arrested five 17-year-olds and two 18-year-olds early Friday morning after seeing a car being driven recklessly on the Kapolei High School campus.

The students had painted a large obscene image on a walkway and glued some door locks, witnesses said.

Police charged the senior class president with trespassing and reckless driving.

The school banned the students from Friday night’s graduation ceremony. The class president was scheduled to speak at the ceremony, but has been replaced, officials said.

Copyright 2009 by KITV.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

YEARBOOK SUCKS is apparently watermarked in one ad. If you read the first letters of the umbreall ad you get BURN SCHOOL.

Yearbook prank taints graduates
chronicle.augusta.com  |  By Julia Sellers, Staff Writer  |  June 06, 2008

A senior joke in the Midland Valley High School yearbook ended with three students suspended and a prank that will last forever.

When Midland Valley High yearbooks went home two weeks ago, senior portraits were in place, baby ads filled the back pages and local advertisers showed their support for the school.

But a page with false advertisements held secret messages saying “yearbook blows,” “I hate yearbook,” and “Hickson sux,” a reference to Principal Doris Hickson.

Past yearbook editors also ran silly fake ads, but this year’s prank didn’t get past administrators.

Yearbook editors Tiffany Redd and Josh Kucela and business editor Ashley Videtto were suspended for running the fake ads.

Ms. Redd said she didn’t want to speak about the suspension, and Mr. Kucela and Mr. Videtto did not return calls for comment.

Under Aiken County’s student code of conduct, suspended and expelled students can have privileges revoked, school attorney Bill Burkhalter said. Privileges include walking at graduation. There are no specific punishments for seniors or senior pranks.

After a five-day suspension and a recommendation by school administrators that the students not be allowed to participate in graduation ceremonies, Midland Valley parent and Aiken attorney Chuck Jones offered to represent the three students for appeals before the Area 3 advisory council.

“School administrators have a hard time as it is. I have total respect for them,” Mr. Jones said. “At the end of the year, they ran out of avenues to use for the punishment. These three kids had never had a blemish on their records.”

“I personally did not find it offensive,” he said. “I can see where some people would have thought there were other issues involved.”

Mr. Jones said he knew the school yearbook staff ran similar ads at least two years ago, and no students were punished.

The yearbook page looks like another advertisement page. The first letters of words and telephone numbers spell out secret messages. Watermarks on the page, which aren’t visible at first glance, also reveal messages.

The students did serve out their suspension, and they are being allowed to walk today at graduation, Mr. Jones said.

Upset parents, however, sent letters to Ms. Hickson asking that their privileges be revoked.

“Parents are upset because he’s (Mr. Videtto) supposed to be our valedictorian and he’s putting rude comments throughout this yearbook that we paid for,” parent Linda Briggs said. “This is not just his yearbook; it’s the school’s yearbook and it’s the class’s yearbook, and it didn’t have to be in there.”

Mrs. Briggs said many parents of students in the top 10 percent of the class asked that Mr. Videtto not be allowed to speak.

The principal and advisory council members did not return calls seeking comment, and yearbook adviser Katheleen Conyers did not respond to e-mails for comment.

Reach Julia Sellers at (706) 823-3424 or julia.sellers@augustachronicle.com.

Banned from graduation ceremony, students show up anyway and protest.

Link to slide show that may or may not work.

9 Not Allowed To Attend Graduation Ceremony
Students Suspended For Senior Prank
www.wisn.com  |  June 8, 2009

HARTLAND, Wis. — A senior prank cost nine seniors from Arrowhead High School from walking in their graduation ceremony Sunday afternoon.

The nine seniors called the prank “harmless,” but school administrators said it still crossed the line.

The group used sidewalk chalk to write “Class of 09″ and some small designs on the school building Thursday night.

“In some ways I thought it was a pretty lame prank, you know, it looked more like a decoration,” says James Clark, one of the seniors who was suspended. “It just said ‘Class of ‘09.’ And it had some pictures. Someone drew like a ‘Tweety’ bird or something.”

James says the chalk was up for two hours before they had to clean it up.

While the rest of the class prepared for their graduation ceremony on Sunday, the seniors held signs near the road — saying things like “They’re unfair, they don’t care,” and “We can’t walk, cuz we used chalk.”

“It’s disappointing, especially for other people who have family coming in from out of state, expecting a graduation ceremony,” Clark said.

Clark’s parents said they’re fine with the one day suspension, but said the entire punishment doesn’t fit the crime.

Beth, Clark’s mother said, “The suspension is fine, having to clean it up is fine, not going to senior party, possibly fine, but to not allow them to walk with the rest of their classmates like they’re some criminals unfit to be in the same room with them, it’s a little extreme.”

James’ parents appealed the suspension, but it was denied by the district superintendent, Craig Jefson. Jefson sent them a letter.

It read, in part: “James and the other students were aware that their behavior at this time could prompt their suspension from school and resulting loss of privilege to participate in the graduation ceremony, yet they participated in the disruption anyway. … I needed to consider the message to current and future students that disruption of the school environment cannot be acceptable in some situations and not others.”

“After all the hard work, we worked 12 years. We’ve been looking forward to this all year, and now it was just taken away from us — even after we cleaned it up that night,” Brittany Sands said.

wow

PBR clearly visible

Apparently the gang signs are ok, but the bird is bad.

Yearbook Photo of High School Student with Beer Sparks Controversy
www.wcsh6.com  |  Ken Christian, Information Center Content Manager  |  May 31, 2009

CHICAGO (NBC) — Someone slipped a beer into New Trier High School yearbook.

The snapshot included in the 4,000 copies of the exclusive Chicago school’s “Trevia” yearbook shows a photo of two students, one of whom has a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon in her hand.

“Clearly, the content of the picture and its inclusion in the yearbook are contrary to our principles and values as a school community. Administrators are investigating how and why the inappropriate picture was included, and we will take appropriate disciplinary action when we find the responsible individuals,” said Superintendent Lina Yonke of the New Trier Township High School District.

School spokeswoman Laura Blair told the Chicago Tribune that the photo was not in the yearbook when the adviser cleared it for publication, indicating someone sneaked it in afterwards.

Blair says “it’s clearly defiant and subversive and intentional.”

Possible consequences for the students involved could range from a school suspension to charges of underage possession of alcohol.

Additional photo after the break

The girl holding the beer was not responsible for puttin this image in the yearbook.

I can’t help but think about Mark Zupan, world class para-athlete, from the movie MURDERBALL who was also injured in a pick up truck accident while whooping it up with friends. Speedy recovery and best wishes to the injured student. I’ve poked around to find an update on his health to no avail. To the rest of the boys, good luck.

Alec William Esoda, 18, faces charges.

About 30 students moved this sailboat at Leesville Road High School Friday, May 28, 2009. When they left, a pickup carrying approximately nine students overturned, critically injuring Ian Anthony Bunn, 17, (Photo by the Raleigh Police Department Crash Reconstruction Unit)

Ian Anthony Bunn, 17, was in critical condition at Rex Hospital after a pickup truck he was riding in overturned on O’Neal Road in front of Leesville High School Friday, May 28, 2009, according to Raleigh police. (Photo by the Raleigh Police Department Crash Reconstruction Unit)

Report: Students drank before prank, didn’t report wreck
Posted: May. 31, 2009 Updated: Jun. 1, 2009  |      Web Editor: Anne Johnson  |  www.wral.com/

Raleigh, N.C. — Masked students doing a prank involving a boat didn’t report a wreck that hospitalized one student, and investigators found evidence that at least some students drank at Leesville High School before the Friday incident, according to a police report.

A Crash Reconstruction Unit report obtained by WRAL News details events surrounding the wreck, in which Ian Anthony Bunn, 17, suffered massive head trauma. He was in critical condition at Rex Hospital on Lake Boone Trail late Sunday.

About 30 Leesville High students and alumni met at O’Neal Road around 12:30 a.m. to do a prank at the nearby school, the report says. They wore masks to conceal their identities, and police later found evidence that some had been drinking beer in a school parking lot beforehand.

The students moved a 12- to 15-foot boat painted with school symbols 75 feet from the parking lot and pushed it up against the cafeteria doors. They put dry concrete in the bottom of the boat to make it harder to remove, and then began to run away.

Three students got in the front seat and Bunn and approximately five others hopped in the bed of a black 2005 Ford F-150 parked on a parking-lot access road facing Leesville Road, according to the report.

Witnesses said Alec William Esoda, 18, put the truck in reverse and accelerated at excessive speed toward O’Neal Road. Esoda tried to perform a J-turn – in which a driver turns a vehicle going reverse 180 degrees and puts it in forward gear so it’s going in the same direction. The truck overturned, and all the passengers in the truck bed were ejected.

Bunn’s head was pinned underneath the truck’s roof, but a student pulled him out, the report says.

Esoda and other passengers – including Taylor Rodman Bucklin, 18, Zachary Mitchel Blalock, 19, Daniel Carl Walser, 18, and Charles Walter Blalock, 18, all of Raleigh – weren’t seriously injured. Other masked students in the truck haven’t been identified, but no other injuries were reported.

An unidentified student took Bunn to Rex Hospital, and staff called police once they were told Bunn had been in a wreck.

After the wreck, some students fled the scene, and one called Esoda’s father, Bill, who came out to the scene, the report says.

Officers arrived at 1:51 a.m. and found the overturned truck surrounded by several people who had backed a green Chevrolet truck up to it. Officers determined that the people were trying to pull the truck back up onto its wheels.

Officers found four beer cans in the parking lot; three more in a storm drain about 20 feet from the overturned truck, and a beer funnel in the bed of the truck.

They arrested Esoda, of 12408 Tappersfield Court. A chemical analysis test showed he had a blood alcohol content level of .08. He has been released on bond for charges of felony serious injury by vehicle, DWI, provisional DWI and reckless driving.

The Leesville High school resource officer has been assigned to continue the investigation and determine what other students were involved in the wreck.