It was a typical Tuesday morning for the WHS community. Students scanned into the building at 7:30 a.m., teachers taught their first and second period classes and everyone was on their way to homeroom — until an email to all staff from Acting Principal William Loughran announced that The Bear and Shameless Actor Jeremy Allen White would be visiting the school in a matter of days. According to the email, White was going to be filming the upcoming Bruce Springsteen biopic in the area and had struck up a friendship with Loughran.
The word spread quickly. Teachers and students alike prepared to meet the rising Hollywood star, while the Hi’s Eye staff acted swiftly in setting up time for an interview. The halls were buzzing with excitement and confusion – until Loughran sent a follow-up email just hours later with nothing but the phrases “I’m shameless” and “Happy April Fools’ Day.”
“I was thinking, how could I gently introduce some sort of an April Fools’ prank to the staff without it being too mean?” said Loughran. “I’m a huge Springsteen fan. I knew they would never believe that I could get [Springsteen] to come to WHS, but maybe I could fool them with [White].”
Many people fell victim to Loughran’s prank. “I had various people coming up to me asking me to bring him to their classrooms or to introduce them. And then people started saying, ‘wait a minute, is this an April Fools’ joke?’ And I would answer ‘I don’t joke about Springsteen,’” Loughran explained.
Senior James Furrer was just one of many who fell into Loughran’s trap. “I got excited, as any student would be, if a celebrity was going to be roaming the halls of their school. I’ve watched Shameless, so I know who he is, and it would have been cool to actually meet him,” said Furrer.
Loughran, however, was not the only prankster to hit WHS last Tuesday. English Teacher David Della Fera spent his April Fools’ Day with a desk covered in bananas after a swiftly executed stunt by his first period AP Literature class.
“I always have a banana every day on my desk in first period. I was then summoned into the hallway by [a student], who was clearly the decoy, and then when I returned there were a couple dozen or more bananas piled on top of my desk,” said Della Fera.
Reflecting on the practical joke by his AP Lit students, Della Fera said the prank was both “charmingly delightful” and “the most nutritious prank I’ve ever experienced.”
From bananas to ‘The Boss’ lookalikes, April Fools’ Day 2025 was nothing short of thrilling and comical at WHS.