Seniors swarmed the parking lot, paintbrushes in hand, ready to make their mark on the campus. Paint cans littered the lot, as brushes were dipped, and the blacktop was coated. Bright colors and Pinterest inspired ideas lined the rows, soon to be hidden by the student’s vehicles. 

As the 2021 school year swung into motion, senior parking lot painting commenced on Aug. 26 and 28. Seniors got busy bringing their creations to life and adding a flare of color to the bland lot. Senior Jenna Woelfel used this event to express herself and add a touch of personality to her spot.

“I wanted to do something that kind of represents me and what I like,” Woefel said. 

Similarly, senior Leah Couteranis designed her spot with her personality in mind and utilized colors to reflect this.

“I honestly was just thinking about different colors because I’m really into like going bold and vibrant with colors so I just kind of did little droplets, making it look like melted crayons,” Couteranis said. 

This opportunity was a creative outlet for seniors after a year of disappointment and let downs. This event, as any other school function, took a lot of work behind the scenes. Arica Vester, the president of the 2022 Parent Club, explains how this idea came about:

“It was a vision of Dr. [Sonny] Arnel’s that he wanted to implement … And then it sort of got tabled for a while, which means it kind of got put on hold. And then COVID happened… And over the [summer of 2020] there was communication with [the] parent club and Dr. Arnel, that he still wanted to pursue this idea,” Vester said. “Because we had had the basis in place and we knew that since it was an outdoor event that it might be an activity that would be really good.” 

 In order to carry out the painting night, the senior parents called upon the junior parents to supervise the painting as a gift to the senior class.

“I really can’t volunteer [at] the events because I want to be there with my kids. So if it’s only for the seniors, then, you know, it makes sense that the junior class would sort of host the event and run it,” Vester said.

 Although the birth of this idea goes back a few years, last year was the first year of this tradition, and this year it blossomed as participation nearly doubled. This fun tradition is not as simple as it may look, it requires preparation from the school and students.On the night of the painting the radar was looking dismal. The question of if the event would occur was swarming around and cancelation was up in the air. 

“The day of [the painting] it was raining and we were afraid that we wouldn’t be able to, but it dried enough that we got to,” Woelfel said. 

During the first hour on Aug. 26, parents could be seen attempting to dry off spots with a leaf blower. Despite the struggle with the rain, the event was allowed to proceed without interruption; however, there was still one more hurdle: cost.

“I bought all of the paint at Home Depot because there was a code to get a discount, and that helped out a lot since it was pretty expensive,” Couteranis said.

 Seniors were required to buy their own supplies which included paint, painters tape, brushes, and any additional tools needed for their specific design. Despite the struggle to bring this event to life and the costly supplies, both Woelfel and Couteranis would recommend this tradition to future seniors.

“It was so fun and it’s so nice to have a parking spot that’s yours specifically,” Woelfel said.