Last Wednesday, high school senior Emily Jones told her principal to stand in the hallway, holding an old bucket.
Sherman Padgett, who has been principal at North High School in Wichita, Kansas, since 2006, had reason to be apprehensive, but after some encouragement from his secretary, he went along with her strange request.
He’s glad he did.
Members of the senior class started streaming down the hall, each dropping a note of thanks or praise into the bucket.
“Thank you for making high school the best years of my life,” one note read.
“You’ve made my first year experience in America one that I will always fondly remember,” read another.
“Thank you for the shirt you gave me,” read another. “When I didn’t have clothes on my back, you provided.”
