The senior rock (also called spirit rock) is a rural and suburban United States tradition in which youth, often a high school senior class, paint a prominent local rock with class colors, graduating year, or names of the members of the class. A rock at Northwestern University is said to have "inches of paint after 80 years of the tradition". The tradition may have started in the 1950s or 1960s at universities and high schools.
Rocks are usually indigenous but they can be delivered to the school as a specifically designated senior rock. In at least one case a rock has been donated from one graduating class to a following class of seniors. A senior rock at Olympia High School was "dumped" from a local quarry after another one had been removed.
Council Rock High School North in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, is named for a rock which is frequently painted.
See also
References
- Deer Isle-Stonington Historical Society 2008, p. 20.
- Ellie Olmanson (October 31, 2016), "'The Rock:' True Colors of WHS?", Trojan Tribune, Plymouth, Minnesota: Wayzata High School
- "Dulaney Senior Rock Painting", The Baltimore Sun,
It's been a tradition since 1965.
- "Senior Rock Delivered to MHS", School news official website, Malvern, Ohio: Brown Local Schools, September 2015, retrieved 2019-02-16
- Brian Benson (February 19, 2017), Wayland: Seniors paint over rock's graffiti, Wayland, Mass.: Wayland Wicked Local
- Kainber 2007, p. 96.
Sources
- Kainber, Jim (2007). Olympia High School. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0738548111.
- Deer Isle-Stonington Historical Society (2008). Deer Isle and Stonington. Arcata Publishing. ISBN 978-1439620328.
It has become a custom for the high school's senior class each year to paint on the rock the names of the seniors
Further reading
- Lenox Kamara; Steeven Tabuada (September 27, 2016), "Seniors rock traditions with spirited painting", The Current, Gaithersburg, Maryland: Watkins Mill High School
- Seamus Healy (May 31, 2018), "Senior rock", Providence Academy Word, Plymouth, Minnesota: Providence Academy
- Huntington's Class of 2010 Parents Paint the Rock, Huntington Station, New York: Huntington High School, May 2010