As the class of 2024 gets ready to move on from highschool, the Senior Lot on campus will start to empty out. This will leave a bunch of ready-to-paint spots available for next year’s seniors. How exciting–a spot to call your own! But before you rush to the store to buy a bunch of paint, you have to understand the details involved in the senior parking spots. There’s fees, timeframes, and types of paints needed; but worry not! I’m here to help guide you into your senior parking season.
The most important step of planning out your spot is figuring out your design. The artwork you choose will have to be approved by a staff member organizing the spots. Last year’s staff member was Chris Baird. If you decide you want a different design closer to your designated painting dates, that change is relatively flexible and as long as your new design is school appropriate, so you won’t really have to worry about getting it approved by staff. I would recommend something bright or colorful; but be warned! The more colors in your design, the more time and labor putting it together in real life. Choose something simple and true to you.
A packet will be available in Mr. Baird’s room closer to May. Once you have it, you will attach/draw your design on the back of that packet. There are only 60 spots available, so once that maximum number of submissions hits, you won’t be able to turn one in. This is to avoid people needing to get refunded if they don’t get a spot. For the Class of ‘24 spots they cost $60 each, but this year may be different.
After the submission deadline is hit, all you have left to do is wait for the drawing date. As of now there’s no set dates, but from my experience, seniors who purchased parking spots met right after school ended to pick their spots. Seniors meet in the designated area and names will be called randomly. Once your name is called, you may pick the spot you’d like, but keep back up spots in mind as your ideal spot can be taken by anyone called before you. The spots that fill up fastest are the ones closest to the door on the left of the main office. I also recommend being aware of how much traffic surrounds that spot–some areas are easier to get out of than others (I prefer the spots closest to the softball fields). After you get the spot you want it’s now time to buy paint.
The packet you’ll get will recommend places to go to get paint, be aware that this is a SPECIFIC type of paint you’ll be told to get, something that’ll be durable outside and won’t ruin the pavement underneath. Home Depot is the most popular spot to get paint, but I ended up going to Menards to get mine. I ended up getting a few cheap sample paints the size of a Nutella jar to do my character’s colors, and I got paint buckets for my background colors. Plan out what colors you need and how much you paint you need so that you don’t waste your money on extra paint.
Paint days will be revealed in the 2025 packet, and they will run for a week (Saturday-Sunday), usually the week before school starts. There’s no specified time for painting, so you can basically go 24/7. However, I recommend going earlier in the day to avoid a harsh sun and to get a quicker drying time for your paint. To avoid the heat of the day, people often bring pop up canopies. In years past, whole families came to help their senior get the perfect paint job on their spot, and there is definitely enough work to go around. The latest I’ve stayed out to paint was probably midnight, but some people stayed out past 2am. Painting will take hours and will probably need to happen over a few days depending on your design. Just make sure to give yourself enough time to finish your spot and don’t overwork yourself.
There you go, a spot to call your own! Now you’re officially a senior! Overall picking a spot and working on it (plus a bonus if friends are nearby painting at the same time) is extremely fun, so I recommend getting a spot for your senior year. Not many spots get picked up since the prices are high, but I think it was worth it. I don’t have to worry about not having a parking spot for the day so that’s a win. If you don’t buy a spot you don’t need to worry, there’s still tons of spots to park in, it’s just nice to have your own space. Do what works best for you and keep an eye out for those applications!
