Hudson seniors paint parking spots for final year

by Carson Fox

This past summer, when most students were enjoying a relaxing break from school, more than 100 seniors were hard at work in the Hudson High School parking lot. A month earlier, they had submitted designs to paint a designated parking spot for their final year as Hudson students.

This new project, however, was started long before any paint hit the asphalt. Last spring, then-Hudson student Joey Herman began petitioning the administration for permission to paint the senior parking lot. Despite Herman’s research and communication with other schools that had painted spots, Trudy Kaltner, the student government adviser, said there simply was not enough time to gather all the materials and students needed to paint.

A year later, Claire Haas, the current student government director of communications, took the helm of the project. Kaltner said the first notice about the senior spots was made in the spring and student support quickly poured in.

“As a senior myself, I really wanted to create something special for my class and to leave a tradition behind,” Haas said. “Painted senior parking spots have become a tradition at many schools around us, so there was already a lot of enthusiasm from students at the thought of bringing this tradition to Hudson.”

To paint a spot, students paid a small fee and agreed to the school’s condition of leaving a border around their designs so as not to intrude on others. In addition, participants were required to submit a sketch of their design proposal for administrative approval. The restrictions did not seem to be too harsh, though.

“If you could wear it on a shirt, you could paint it,” Kaltner said.

The 131 participants painted a wide variety of characters, locations and interests on their parking spots. One student created a dragon with pink flowers surrounding it. Another painted an army man from Toy Story, with his name under it.

Seniors said the process was simple and accessible; none of them said their designs were declined. Haas, who had a goal of 100 painted spots, believes the excitement created by these colorful canvases will fuel it as a tradition moving forward.

Photo caption: A Hudson High School senior’s painted parking space reflects a new student-led tradition that drew 131 participants this year. Photo submitted.