News / Clark County News

Photo of Hudson’s Bay student spinning Kanye West goes viral

Student finds loophole to teacher's no cell phones, even for music, rule

By Katie Gillespie, Columbian Education Reporter

Published: April 12, 2018, 10:58am

Wyatt Prutch, a student in Eric Saueracker's physics class at Hudson's Bay High School, brought his record player to class so he could listen to music during his physics midterm. Saueracker's tweets has picked up hundreds of thousands of likes and retweets on Twitter. (Courtesy of Eric Saueracker)

A Hudson’s Bay High School student was just tryna catch the beat when he brought a record player to his physics midterm this week.

When Eric Saueracker, a math and physics teacher at the Vancouver high school, told his students they weren’t permitted to bring their phones to the physics midterm Wednesday, even for music, one student found a loophole.

“I joked that they could bring in a casette or CD if they wanted music, when the student chimed in and asked if he could bring in a record player,” Saueracker said by email Thursday. “Of course, I thought he was just being a smart ass, so I told him it was OK.”

Lo and behold, he said, the next day, Wednesday, Wyatt came to class carrying a portable record player, a 15-foot extension cord and a vinyl copy of Kanye West’s iconic album “The College Dropout.”

Students are taking their Physics Midterm exam today. I said no cell phones, not even for music since they could be used to cheat.

This student brought in a record player and is bumping Kanye in his headphones right now… pic.twitter.com/p57iMIal7D

— Eric Saueracker (@esaueracker) April 11, 2018

“I just did it as kind of a joke,” Wyatt, a junior, said. “I didn’t need to listen to music for the test. He said if I did he wouldn’t stop me, so I was like OK, I’ll do it.”

The internet loved it like Kanye loves Kanye, with Saueracker’s tweet racking up 172,000 retweets and 554,000 likes as of press time. Time, Mashable and United Press International featured stories about Wyatt, and Kanye West fan groups flooded his mentions with offers of free books and records.

“It was surreal,” Wyatt said. “I didn’t expect any of this.”

It doesn’t sound like Wyatt plans to be a college dropout anytime soon, according to Saueracker, who was also the Regional Teacher of the Year in 2013.

“The amazing thing is that he tied for the second highest score in the class and aced the exam.”