awesome senior prank...

CARLISLE, Pa. - Authorities at Boiling Springs High School are trying to figure out who sent an official-looking but bogus letter to scores of parents, promising to provide hotel rooms and condoms to seniors on prom night.



"A lot of the parents flipped out about it. I was assuming it was the real thing. I was completely in shock that the school was doing this," said senior Sean McDermott.


After a weekend of discussions about the letter among residents of the Carlisle area, and even at some Sunday church services, the school sent a genuine letter to parents about the prank.


"Somebody was very creative in this," said Principal Joe Mancuso. "The (initial) letter was in no way endorsed by the school staff."


The letter was written under the letterhead of the South Middleton School District and claimed to be a message from the faculty and staff about Friday's prom and senior class pictures, but then diverged sharply from the usual school vernacular.


"We realize students may participate in reckless physical behavior," it said. "As a result of this knowledge, the school will be renting a limited amount of hotel rooms for private parties. Throughout the dance, we will also be distributing a `Bubbler Condom Care Package' containing free condoms and a brochure about the dangers of unprotected sex."


The letter also requested that donations of condoms and sexual aids (news - web sites) be dropped off at the school office.


Not everybody was taken in by the gag.


"When I got to the word `motion lotion,' I was like, right! A kid wrote this," said Mary McDermott, Sean's mother.


The Rev. Robert C. Gray said his son, a senior at Boiling Springs, convinced him and his wife that the letter was not legitimate.


"My first reaction was that the school was going beyond the cultural standards (news - web sites) of our community," the minister said. "Then my son said, `Dad, take a look at the donations they're asking for.' I said, `Hmmm, the wisdom of a teenager.'"