If you want to do something special for a friend's birthday, but want to do it at your school, you'll have to plan a little in advance. Some things might not be allowed, so you may have to run your ideas by a teacher or the school administration first. This is especially true if what you want to do is not the norm -- if you want to hold a picnic on school grounds, for example, or arrange entertainment to come in from outside the school.

Decorating a friend's locker for her birthday is a time-honored school tradition. You can do this alone, but it's much easier as a group project. Choose a day and time when your friend is sure to be somewhere else, and bring enough wrapping paper, ribbon and balloons to cover the entire locker. Be sure to bring a camera, so you can record your masterpiece, and keep it on hand so you can capture your friend's expression when she first sees it.

If you want to do something extra special, join with other friends and pool your money for a singing telegram. Again, be sure to check with school administration to make sure that this is allowed. If it is, you can arrange for a crazy character, such as a gorilla, a clown or even an Elvis impersonator, to show up at lunch and sing, dance or present balloons to your friend. Avoid scheduling the telegram during class, so as not to interrupt your friend's teacher, or make it necessary for you to skip your own class in order to see it.

If your school allows it, give your friend a break from the cafeteria and arrange to have pizza delivered to your school at lunchtime. If your school has picnic tables, you can hold your picnic there; if not, you can bring picnic baskets and blankets and hold it near the track, or some other pleasant spot on campus. Be sure that the spot you pick is out of high-traffic areas, however, to avoid disturbing others -- especially if you bring a boombox, iPod speakers or any other form of entertainment.

If you want to go a step further than just decorating your friend's locker, you could organize it. If your friend's locker is a perpetual disaster, with things falling out every time it's opened, what better gift than a neat, tidy, organized space as a birthday present? This idea requires a little guile, since someone will have to worm his combination out of him, and you'll need some knowledge of his schedule to do it when he's not around -- but it makes a nice surprise. Possible items include a dry-erase board and marker for notes, hooks, wire shelves, a mirror and removable wallpaper.