“The idea is that up until this point when we finished history last semester, Texas had become part of Mexico’s territory because Mexico had gained independence from Spain,” Figueroa said. “Mexico stopped people from the United States from coming to Texas, canceled all impresario contracts, and banned slaves from entering Texas. Anglo settlers were outraged. They believed slavery was ordained by God and essential to their prosperity.”

She then began to explain to her class about the policies that were sprung on Texans by Haden Edwards in 1826 that the public opinion of the United States was not okay with.

However, before this history lesson began on Thursday, Figueroa tricked her 7th grade class by presenting a PowerPoint full of fake changes to the rules and structures of Brook Hill. Many of these changes were bizarre and had her students in an outrage. The new rules ranged from “Each core class shall be two hours in length and shall meet each day of the school week” to “Girls are prohibited from any nail polish color other than clear. This includes both nails on hands and feet.”

She encouraged her students to write a letter to Mr. Fletcher expressing their concern of the new policies before revealing to them that it was just a prank and the emotions that they felt were similar to those of the citizens in her lesson.