Lovely outcomes to Wilson ’07 Senior Prank

Students led by Maggie Collins, and community members worked together at Wilson High School this morning to repair the “damage” done to a previously-neglected grass courtyard by a Senior Prank. As my phone camera photo shows, despite or because of the repair, the Peace sign is going to be visible to those with eyes to see for a long time.

The rest of the courtyard was cleaned up, too, leaving it better than before – with some of the marigolds from the prank planted in the center flower bed.

And one unexpected benefit was the discovery (by someone slipping on something slick under the grass) of a mosaic installed by the Class of 1970 as part of their Senior Gift to the school. It had long been overgrown by the grasa and forgotten. Volunteers unearthed and will be restoring it.

I arrived late to the gathering, having previously committed to help with the South Tabor Neighborhood Association clean-up (another fine volunteer effort). I saw several older folks leaving as I arrived, several in tie-dyed or flowered t-shirts, all smiling and talking about our good-hearted Wilson kids. But lest you think we’re all a bunch of hippies in this part of SW Portland, here’s a nice twist. As I reached the courtyard, a white-haired woman maybe 30 years my senior commented to me, “They should have let them keep the marigolds! They look pretty and they had a good message”. She paused, then then continued, “Better than planting more damn trees that blow leaves into my yard!” That made me laugh.

Members of the Wilson High School classes of 2006 and 2007 reminded me yesterday that students of the Class of 2005 carved a big ’05 into the grass outside the back entrance to the school, for their prank. They decorated the trench with beer cans. Did you hear about that “vandalism” at the time? I think not. And there was no major push to identify the culprits, and no mandatory restoration. The ’05 can still be seen today, if you know where to look – although as I mentioned in my post on Thursday, the grass around Portland’s public schools isn’t exactly pristine after 17 years of maintenance cuts.

I should have noted in my previous post that parents, teachers, and students have high regard for Sue Brent, in her first year as Principal at Wilson. Her decisions and leadership, generally based in common sense, match the Wilson community’s style and philosophy well. I think the over-reaction to the Peace-Marigolds was likely guided by central administration, following the equally silly banning of the peace signs in windows. Portland Public Schools doesn’t ban all window decorations – artwork and informational notices are common. Requiring the peace signs to be removed was clearly unconstitutional unless all window decorations are forbidden, yet once an agency takes a stand it seems harder to admit mistakes.

Anyway, perhaps it’s a slow news month…. or perhaps everyone is justly jittery about the war, and sensitive to students making a statement that says more than a trench filled with beer cans. Either way, in some ways it’s good so much attention was attracted by the prank. Today, Wilson High School Class of 2007’s Maggie Collins was joined by dozens of community members, in the required replacement of the sod cut for the marigold-festooned peace sign at Wilson. And they left the courtyard better than it was before.