Aiden Ko
Photo of a painted senior parking lot space.
This year’s seniors are super! No, literally, they are the “Super Seniors,” and their new initiatives live up to their title. But will these innovations become traditions? That depends on whether future classes keep them alive.
Move over, grey asphalt. Chadwick’s senior lot just got a summer glow-up. This year, the seniors each claimed a slice of the parking lot, splashing their personality over stencils and on their shoes.
The weekend before school started, seniors, armed with brushes and way too much paint, worked under the scorching summer sun to transform the lot. Some designs were inspired by movies; others were inside jokes that only a few would understand, and at least one ended up looking more like abstract art than a parking spot.
When asked about personalizing spots, ASB President Lucy Cushman ’26 reflected: “I’m obviously biased, but I thought it went really well. Although it took us an entire weekend of manual labor, every senior now has a little piece of them plastered on our campus.”
Every morning, seniors and their lucky carpools step out of their cars and onto something more than a parking lot. Now, they are greeted by a quilt of unique identities stitched together in color. What could have been just another way to ease into the school year is now a reminder that the senior class has left its mark. Together. Thanks, STUCO!
When asked about his take on seniors painting parking spots, STUCO faculty advisor and Upper School math teacher Ryan Zachos, expressed hope for the future: “I’m hoping that [painting parking spots] stays, that sticks, like that becomes a tradition.”
Speaking of things that stay for a long time, school administrators approved actual paint instead of chalk: it isn’t washing away anytime soon. Next year’s seniors may find themselves painting over whatever other masterpiece still clings to the pavement. From the senior class: “Good luck getting rid of us next year.”
The seniors also carried over a fan-favorite tradition started by the class of 2025. During the First Day of School assembly, they sang the song “You Got a Friend in Me” from Toy Story.
By building on last year’s seniors, this simple act of song is beginning to transform from a one-time event into a potential lasting tradition.
“Singing to the kinders was kicked off by Natalie Bernstein and the class of 2025, but the fact that the seniors this year did it again shows what it takes to create new traditions,” said Zachos. “Who’s gonna take up the mantle and carry that forward?”
That question is at the heart of what this year’s seniors hope to accomplish.
If the painted parking lot is the seniors’ mark on the ground, their documentary of their senior year is their mark on memory. The idea to create a documentary film of the 2025-26 school year came from Senior STUCO President, Storey Kuo. She wanted to create something special just for the seniors this year.
“I wanted our grade to have something new and special where everyone can be included,” said Kuo. “The documentary will give us memories we can watch back as we become adults.”
When Kuo pitched her documentary idea to STUCO, it was received positively by them—so positively that ASB Vice President Layla Daniels ’26 and Senior STUCO Vice President Tiffany Li immediately jumped on board to help out. It definitely helps that they both have cameras.
“I wanted to help with this project because I love being able to look back on those memories,” says Daniels. “When I’m old, I want something to look back at and be like, ‘Oh, I was such a happy teenager.’”
So far, the three have documented the parking spot painting and Senior Sunrise, the first tradition of the year where the senior class comes together. They look forward to documenting the rest of their senior year’s most important events.
“I love that everyone wants to contribute,” said Li. “During Senior Sunrise, we went around and asked everyone, ‘Where do you think you’re going to be in ten years?’ Some people gave funny answers; some people gave serious answers. I really enjoyed listening to where people thought they were going to be.”
Kuo, Li, and Daniels all agree that they want the documentary and other senior traditions to bring their class closer together and serve as a nostalgic final send-off for the class of 2026. But more than that, they’re hoping future senior classes will be inspired to create their own documentaries, transforming this year’s new project into an annual practice that lasts for years to come.
“Making the last year special and memorable is super important since seniors are already under so much stress with thinking about the future,” said Kuo.“I think every senior class should have something special they can take with them to remember high school.”
But for right now, it’s just a hope, not yet a tradition. That title will only come if the classes that follow decide these initiatives are worth keeping alive.