--- description: It's senior prank season title: WATCH: Students Hire Mariachi Band to Follow Around Principal image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # High School Students Hire Mariachi Band to Follow Around Their Principal  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Jun 4, 2014 7:59 PM CUT  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Jun 4, 2014 7:59 PM CUT Santa Barbara High School students got a mariachi band to follow around the principal as part of a senior prank. Four musicians started trailing the principal John Becchio at 7:30 a.m., according to [_TODAY_.](http://www.today.com/news/students-hire-mariachi-band-follow-principal-around-senior-prank-2D79756707 "undefined") Turns out it was the second time he got pranked that week. The [_Los Angeles Times_](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-santa-barbara-mariachi-senior-prank-20140604-story.html "undefined") reports that he came into work on Monday to find his belongings had been shrink-wrapped. Looks like nobody got detention because the school district [posted the now-viral video](http://www.sbunified.org/2014/06/03/santa-barbara-high-school-senior-prank/ "undefined") on YouTube in the first place. No word on whether the principal plans to seek revenge on the students before the last day of school [tomorrow](http://www.kctv5.com/story/25692144/students-hire-mariachi-band-to-follow-principal "undefined"). (h/t [_Tastefully Offensive_](http://www.tastefullyoffensive.com/2014/06/students-hire-mariachi-band-to-follow.html?utm%5Fsource=feedburner&utm%5Fmedium=feed&utm%5Fcampaign=Feed%3A+TastefullyOffensive+%28Tastefully+Offensive%29 "undefined")) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2823098/mariachi-band-prank/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2823098/mariachi-band-prank/"},"headline":"High School Students Hire Mariachi Band to Follow Around Their Principal","datePublished":"2014-06-04T19:59:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:10:23.465Z","description":"It's senior prank season","url":"https://time.com/2823098/mariachi-band-prank/","keywords":["Newsfeed","nation"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2823098/mariachi-band-prank/","name":"High School Students Hire Mariachi Band to Follow Around Their Principal"}}]}] ```