Watching Disney shows growing up that portrayed a high school experience with decorative lockers and painted parking spots engraved an idea of high school that wasn’t reality. However, with rules regarding the building that have been uplifted, upcoming seniors are able to paint their parking spaces and decorate the parking lot.
With a couple of paint buckets and brushes, the school is allowing seniors to brighten up the parking lot and paint the spots for the 2026-27 school year. As the word spread from the SGA officers, students got excited and started planning what designs they wanted on their spot.
With the school moving to the Crown location in Gathersburg, administration was more lenient and were able to rebirth older high school traditions that aren’t as common today. After receiving approval from admin, SGA member Alex Rabin said, “Seniors are allowed to paint their parking spots next year.”
Upcoming seniors are excited to get this opportunity. They are using platforms such as Tiktok, Pinterest, and Instagram to gather ideas for their spots. Junior Adriana Colomo said, “I can’t wait to paint my spot. I am thinking about painting something very colorful but I am not sure what exactly. I have been scrolling through my phone and saving ideas to my camera roll.”
Not only are they finding ideas online, but they are also planning what materials they will need to successfully paint their spots. Junior Blake Williams said, “Although I am not sure what to paint yet, I am starting to think ahead. It is a large space so I will need stencils, big paint brushes, and paint buckets to be able to fill in the spot efficiently and effectively. I will also need to start with a primer and end with a waterproof top coat so that the paint stays on even after consistently driving on it.”
Underclassment have a different perspective. Since they will be continuing high school in a different, newly built building, the rules might be stricter and the opportunity to paint parking spaces at crown has not been mentioned. Sophomore Hannah Yuan said, “Since the school is new they probably don’t want to spend more money each year re-paving the parking lot so the chances of us getting to paint our spots is very low.”
However, being the last graduating class from a building is an opportunity to give upcoming seniors their best last year. Junior Manu Poggio said, “The school will be undergoing construction after we graduate so it makes sense to have this fun opportunity to end high school.”
So far, painting parking spaces is one of the uplifted rules for the last graduating class at the school; however, as the year goes on, there may be other opportunities for this class before they graduate.
