This was a new year, grade 6 and one mischief maker who liked to play pranks listened as the teacher talk her talk. She sounded nice and a bit strict at the same time.
He hoped that she was fair and not keep everyone in when one kid plays up. That is what the teacher last year did. She was hard to like.
Ever since grade 1 Jed was the class prankster. Playing pranks and jokes on others made other kids laugh and made him feel appreciated and liked. He used to watch his father play fun jokes on his mother and she always laughed. It was a happy household. Before he started grade 1 his dad told him to always do his best, get his work done, have fun and laugh.
Jed followed his dad's wise advice. Actually there was no holding him back! He would put the whoopee cushion on seats as his friends sat down outside for lunch, tie a string to pencils on friend's desks and tickle necks with feathers attached to the end of his ruler in the classroom. He managed to be sneaky enough with the teacher, she mostly never noticed.
Now and then that he would hear a teacher say, "Jed Smith, put that away and get back to work!" He knew when to pull his head in.
The classmates always giggled at his pranks particularly when done on the cranky teacher in grade 5. No-one ever dobbed him in. This teacher was mean and used to punish the whole class. Hiding her cigarettes was entertaining.
Yes, Jed liked being the class prankster, he had a lot of friends. He was careful not to go too far because then his parents would be called to the school.
Cheers and blessings