( CNN ) Think back to your high school 's senior prank . Maybe you and your pals slipped a pig into the building or greased all the door handles or turned all the chairs upside-down . So it 's no surprise that Wichita high school Principal Sherman Padgett was reluctant to play along last week when a student showed up and told him to stand in the hallway holding a bucket . `` She did n't say anything about why . She just said 'hold the bucket , ' `` the North High School principal told CNN affiliate KWCH . `` I 'm not going to hold the bucket unless I have a little inkling of why it could be . '' Good thing he changed his mind . Once he did , student after student streamed by , dropping notes of praise and thanks into the bucket . `` Thank you for making high school the best years of my life , '' one said . `` You 've made my first year experience in America one that I will always fondly remember , '' read another . One student recalled how Padgett `` helped me get through my eating disorder and helped me get into therapy . '' The notes were the idea of senior Emily Jones . She decided she wanted to do something nice for the principal and cooked up the plan with her mother . `` Padgett 's an awesome principal , '' she said . For Padgett , who has been principal at North since 2006 , the experience was priceless . `` Became a little emotional on some of them , '' he said , `` I kind of read them and thought , 'man , this is better than a paycheck . This is why I do the things that I do . ' ``
Kansas , Wichita , high school students surprise principal with kind-hearted senior prank . `` This is why I do the things that I do , '' the principal says .