On Monday, April 29, gold coins, swords and posters were among the many decorations that could be seen scattered across the school as part of the pirate’s cove, the theme for this year’s annual senior prank. 

For senior Sharang Vyas, one of the co-chairs of the prank, the process of planning for the prank began months prior with lots of preparatory work required to execute the prank to its fullest.

“We’ve been planning for a while,” Vyas said. “First, we have to come up with ideas for the theme, and then we let our class vote on the theme. Once the pirate theme won, we started thinking more into the specifics that we would do like what kind of decorations within activities.”

After preliminary arrangements and planning under the supervision of Associate Headmaster John Ashton, members of the senior class spent many hours over the weekend setting up all of the inflatable palm trees, posters, balloons and coins. Although it required a lot of work, Vyas feels that the class bonded over the weekend and the final product was a testament to their creativity and dedication to the project.

“Setting up was a lot of fun,” Vyas said. “We just hung out here pretty much the whole day with our class…some of the things that we did with the balloons, the coins, and the posters we put in funny places.”

The seniors set up specific pirate coves scattered throughout the campus which each consisted of many unique activities. Vyas feels that the decorations and games in the science building produced some of the best highlights from the day. The area consisted of ping pong tables, pirate statues and a big screen TV which provided a space for the seniors to relax during the day.

“In total, it probably took 10 hours, maybe all of Sunday to set up,” Vyas said. “I really liked what we did in the science center…that was a cool area where all of the seniors hung out during the day.”

As Vyas and the rest of the senior class prepare to embark on separate journeys, the senior prank will serve as a memory of their shared experiences and brotherhood together during their time at St. Mark’s.