Isabel Lawrence
News Editor
From 12-2 on Monday, Aug. 27, the class of 2013 gathered at the high school parking lot for an afternoon of car painting, picnicking and reuniting with their fellow seniors. This annual event serves as a way to bring the senior class together before they embark on their last year at NCHS.
Seeing painted senior cars around town is to be expected in the beginning of every school year. However, the car painting isn’t meant for the sole purpose of decoration. According to senior Christy Coco, the event helped her gain school spirit. “The car painting was really fun and a great way to ease into the first day of school,” Christy said. “It made me realize how incredibly excited I am to be a senior and how awesome 2013 is.”
Similarly, senior Jesse Bird saw the car painting as an opportunity to anticipate the year ahead. “It was awesome to reunite with all my friends after a great summer,” he said. “We all had so much fun writing inside jokes on our cars and looking forward to our senior year of high school after all these years.”
“Attending the senior picnic and being able to see everyone before school started really felt like our grade was coming together,” said senior Aly Schmidt. “Senior year is about coming together and today was definitely the beginning to an amazing year where we can all rely on each other.”
The students are not the only ones who value the day. According to Principal Dr. Bryan Luizzi, the car painting and picnic is invaluable for the school as a whole. “Certain things that help bring the class together such as the car paintings and the t-shirts are very valuable and important because it’s an indicator of the school’s strength and culture, and I love that,” Dr. Luizzi said. “Traditions and things that we do that bring us together as a school are great.”
According to Student Body President Will Hennessy the painting and picnic sets the tone for the school year. “The Senior Picnic is a great way for the Senior Class to see each other and get pumped for the year before school starts,” Will said. “We paint each others cars, get our class t-shirt (Chipotle themed) and hang out. It was a blast and I think everyone is pumped for a great school year.”
Recently the car painting has been more of a negative than positive experience for seniors. Members of the senior class have been pulled over and ticketed by the police due to car paint covering rear windows and windshields. However, according to Student Coalition Vice President Senior Molly James, they did not go without warning. “I think the police have been acting from their own discretion,” Molly said. “At the senior picnic we warned everyone about the restrictions of painting windows, and some kids ignored it.”
Senior Katie DiFazio was one of the students who was pulled over by the police, though, went ticket free. “I got pulled over by a police officer and he told me I couldn’t have paint on any of the windows because it was an ‘obstruction of vision,’” Katie said. “He said that a ‘no tolerance policy’ was going to start the following day and that all students with painted cars would be pulled over and ticketed.”
Senior Abbie Stone, who spoke with a police officer regarding the car painting controversy, saw how seriously the paint is being handled. “We asked him what the general laws were about the paint, and he was like, ‘all of it’s illegal,’” said Abbie. “He said that this year they’re being really strict about it, especially the paint on the front and back windshields, since it’s considered having an ‘obstructed view.’”
Senior Liza Swindell got similar feedback from an officer. “Basically, he said that the it’s technically illegal for there to be car paint anywhere on the car but they kind of let some of it fly during senior week,” Liza said. “However, they really crack down on the front and back windows and the mirrors. They aren’t afraid to give tickets because obstruction of view causes a ton of accidents.”
Though the police are looking out for the safety of the seniors, many believe the ticketing is an overreaction. “A lot of the seniors have removed the paint from their back window and windshield, but everywhere else I’ve seen it still on,” said Molly. “I just feel bad for the kids who barely had paint on and still got pulled over.”
According to Katie, regulations surrounding car painting should be made known. “Next year it should definitely be made clear that painted windows are illegal,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting to get pulled over, especially since other cars were painted a lot more than mine!”
