And the far from retiring 17-year-old St Peters College pupil lived up to his reputation at yesterday's Otago Daily Times Class Act award ceremony.
While other pupils respectfully asked Prime Minister Helen Clark to autograph their award certificates, the year 13 pupil had no qualms about putting his best foot forward and asked Miss Clark to autograph his trousers.
A friend at the Gore school had loaned Mitchell a pair of pants for the ceremony - but there were strings attached.
"I don't have a pair of long trousers for school. I usually wear shorts. But a friend offered to loan a pair, as long as they came back signed by the prime minister.
"At first, she wasn't going to do it in case the person wasn't too happy about it. But luckily, she saw the funny side," Mitchell said.
The unnamed friend sent a text message before the ceremony reiterating the conditions of the loan and, armed with a permanent marker pen, Mitchell cheekily upheld his end of the bargain.
So, are the pants bearing the famous signature soon to appear on an online auction website with a premium price tag attached?"No, but they might not be going back to my friend," Mitchell said after the award ceremony yesterday.
Mitchell is a Southland secondary-schools lawn bowls champion and has been a member of the Southland men's development team for the past two years.
He is also active in cultural activities, is a peer mediator and Christian service group member at the school.
He hopes to study law and commerce at the University of Otago next year.
