The Mr. Henderson Fan Page
You may have heard about the mysterious Shawn Henderson Fan Page, but have you ever wondered who was behind it? Have you ever wondered what Mr. Henderson thinks about the activity it has created? The Mr.Henderson Fan Page is a school-wide phenomenon that many question and wonder who the posters are.
The Mr. Henderson Fan Page started on October 19, 2021. It was one of the first fan pages in the school and was created to make people laugh and appreciate the best principal of the South Side: Mr. Shawn Henderson. The fan page consists of 5 “anonymous” keepers who run and own the page. One of those “anonymous” keepers is none other than sophomore Danica Szabo.
Danica Szabo has kept up with the fan page since its creation and has added multiple posts on it. One of the concerns about the fan page was that it would cause problems or shed a negative light on the school. However, Szabo remarks that “the fan page has actually caused no issues. We were pretty careful with making sure that we didn’t post anything that could be interpreted as us trying to embarrass Mr. Henderson.”
One of the keepers' inspirations was the ideology that Mr. Henderson doesn’t get appreciated enough. They said, “We love Mr. Henderson. He is an amazing principal and respects his students. It was a way to show that his work is noticed and appreciated.”
Surprisingly, the fan page sparked many others like it, such as the Mr. Shulte fan page and the Mr. Shaheen fan page, but none gained traction like the Mr. Henderson page. The Mr. Henderson page currently holds 240 followers with 21 posts and 21 following. Each post averages around 60 likes.
Even with many of Riley High School’s students following the page, only select accounts get followed back. Riley clubs, teachers, administrators, and athletics all get a follow back. Although there is widespread knowledge and popularity of the page, many people still don’t know who runs the page.
One of the keepers who chose to stay anonymous was asked why they did. They said “It doesn’t really matter who runs the page. If someone asks we would probably say yes, but nobody really cares. We just like that people are involved in the school!”
Getting involvement from the school was a problem that didn’t need to be thought of. The first post of the fan page had 19 likes, but grew fairly quickly with the next 4 posts having 21, 24, 25, and 26 likes. Days after the fan page was created, it started to boom. On October 21, the numbers jumped into the 40s. From there on, the numbers consistently grew higher. The most likes the fan page has gotten is 98 likes, and the most views it has gotten is 378.
The fan page actively takes pictures from people who send them in. All of the pictures that have been used on the page have been sent in by members of the community, or even Mr. Henderson's own children. The page is a space where everyone can actively appreciate Mr. Henderson, and where people can feel like they have a say in what is being posted.
Mr. Henderson has seen the fan page more than once. His wife, Mrs. Jennifer Henderson, has provided a few pictures as well, such as the New Years fit picture.
Mr. Henderson hadn’t seen the fan page for a few weeks after it was created. The first time he was shown it was by his son, Marcus, who brought it to his attention because he thought it was funny. He was taken by surprise by it. ‘I think that it’s a wonderful idea. I love that young scholars in our building are spreading positivity about Riley. It’s nice to see the appreciation and support from students in the building.”
When asked which of the fan pages was his favorite *wink* *wink*, he replied “The Mr. Henderson fan page is definitely my favorite. I love laughing at the posts. I’ve always thought about where the fan page got those pictures. It’s surprising to see some of them.”
The fan page may be seen as an invasion of privacy, but Mr. Henderson doesn’t see it that way. “I think most of the pictures are pulled off of social media, or pictures that I have taken with students of mine. It’s definitely different to see so many pictures of me that I haven’t seen in awhile. I think once you put things on social media, then you can’t really complain about people seeing them. I put a positive image out on social media, so I guess I’m just worried about someone else putting something negative about me out.”
The fan page is something that won’t burn out for a while. It will keep growing and bring more attention to Riley High School. It is the most popular fan page for Riley at the moment, and it is the one positive fan page that others can look at and feel optimistic. The fan page is here to stay, and it will only get better and better.
