With some experts dating the origin of April Fools’ day to sixteenth century France, the most mischievous nationally recognized holiday is actually a centuries-old tradition with roots deeper than most think. Experts say that when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, the day of the new year changed from April 1 to January 1; however, news obviously did not travel as quickly in the 1500s, and some people mistakenly celebrated the dawn new year on the first of April. These people were widely mocked as “April Fools” –sound familiar?
The past half century has seen the practice of playing pranks on April Fools Day become popularized, and since these practical jokes are most effective on the people who don’t realize the day (especially in the morning), the aptly named holiday continues to respect it’s roots. Hopefully we released this article late enough to avoid ruining anyone’s morning pranks on the unsuspecting, but we anticipate that by now most people are aware to be wary of tricksters and jokes today.
This year, Lockport was all in on the mischievous pranks. Our “morning voice of the Porters,” Ms. Matlock, played a prank on all of East Campus when she very somberly announced that she was no longer going to be doing the morning announcements. Through what sounded like tears, Ms. Matlock broke the news then took a deep breath and started to cackle. This prank took some by surprise and many were grateful that the traditional Friday song will continue. Ms. Matlock did a wonderful job kicking off April Fools’ for Lockport, and the standard she set continued throughout the day with even more practical jokes.
Porter Press assisted in the Sign Language clubs pranking of their sponsor, Ms. Schmook. After school, instead of meeting in their usual classroom, Sign club hid in the Porter Press room. To her surprise, Ms. Schmook walked in on an empty classroom besides a single member. Witnessing the excitement and laughter of the members as they fooled their sponsor, hiding in our meeting room, inspired us with their contagious joy.
Bearing witness to these two Porter pranks, we at Porter Press now understand why this holiday has existed for over half a century, and continues to bring joy today. April Fools Day is the perfect time to lighten the mood and cheer up your friends and family, so we encourage you, as many our Porter students finish class and extracurriculars for the day, to spread that joy with April Fools pranks of your own!
