For Dr. Eric Cochran, 5 am on a Friday usually means one thing: the drive to Starbucks for a fresh coffee. But on May 8th, the Lindbergh principal’s strict routine was abruptly interrupted. As he backed out of his driveway, 54 students were beginning to creep in the shadows towards the door.
The students, all of whom were seniors at Lindbergh High School, had coordinated a well-anticipated, senior prank with the help of neighbors, friends and even Cochran’s own daughter, Kristen. At exactly 5:30 a.m., the students intended to break into their principal’s house and say one final goodbye.
“I was sitting down on my couch, having a cup of coffee, and then the door opened, and here comes my daughter, followed by 54 other seniors, who all just kind of filed in. What I didn’t know [was] that they had set up yard games out on my driveway. There was even some coordination with our neighbors,” Cochran said.
Cochran also shared how he made a couple of jokes at their expense.
“I [told the seniors], I can’t get half of you to show up at school at 7:45, and you’re in my house at 5:30,” Cochran said.
He shared that this was what he thought to be the end of the senior prank; however, his daughter had more planned for him. As he walked into the Lindbergh building, loud music began to sound from the hallways.
“The mariachi band [prank] I only found out [until after] was really one senior, and that was my daughter. She apparently had been working on that for some time. It was something she said that had been her dream to bring that to the school and to embarrass me. And so that made it even more special,” Cochran said.
While the pranks went on with no mishaps, there was one senior who could’ve spoiled it all.
“We had one of the seniors ahead of time asking me, ‘What kind of pranks do you not like?’, so I knew they were cooking up something because they were [also] literally gathering in a circle and talking [at senior sunset] about a senior prank,” Cochran said.
While he loved his seniors pulling one last prank before the end of the year, Cochran said what made this class even more special to him was his daughter being a part of it. Seeing her grow, learn and make friends at his school was more than he could ever ask for.
As for he planned to ground Kristen for after the pranks, Cochran said: “Zero days and zero minutes.”
