Students and staff at PrHS will never forget Social Studies Teacher Mr. Curtis for his kindness, holiday traditions, and creative teaching. But most of all, he will be missed for his great sense of humor and hysterical pranks. 

One prank students will never forget is the Flood Drill of 2021.  Mr Curtis came over the loudspeaker telling everyone to get off the floor and pull their pant legs up so the flood wouldn’t get them. Students then stood on desks with their pant legs pulled up, some holding umbrellas, until Mr. Curtis came back over the loudspeaker saying  ¨April Fools!¨” 

“He was definitely a jokester. I first came and he decorated my room like Tom Brady. He put a cat and baby noise maker in my room,¨  Mrs. Weinberg says, recalling how long it took her to find the sound. Another time, Mrs. Weinberg swore she saw a UFO, then came in the next day after telling Mr. Curtis just to find fifty small aliens and a huge green stuffed alien in her room.  

The students also recall many pranks Mr. Curtis did, but a favorite is when he told classes he would bring them a treat, but he had another idea. “He pulled out a brownie pan and it didn't have real brownies in them. Instead, in the pan there were brown paper letter E’s,” one 8th grader recalls.  

Mr. Curtis was not only humorous toward students, he even made Principal McLemore laugh. “When I was here for three months, he gave me a chip for being here longer than the rest of the principals,” Ms. McLemore says. 

Holidays are important to many, but Mr. Curtis enjoyed them more than others. “For our birthdays he would play the minion song when we walked in,” Freshman Julie Flanders says. He also would give candy out for Valentine’s Day and Halloween. He shared his love for Christmas, mentioning his family had seven Christmas trees in their home and sharing some of the photos. In addition, he had many electronic clocks to countdown to all the school breaks.  

Mr. Curtis’s smile was contagious. He helped many students look forward to school. “He always tried to interact with students in positive ways, and he enjoyed what he did,” says one student.  Whether it was cool gadgets in his room, interactive games, showing funny videos of presidents, or showing students pictures of his cat, he knew how to make the day fun. 

Although he is gone, Mr. Curtis, and all the fun we had in room 131, will live on in our hearts and minds.