A beloved tradition at West is to let seniors paint their own bricks in the senior hallway at the end of each year. Now, as the school has been open for nearly a quarter of a century, the tradition is still going strong, but has now spread into the end and the “H” hallways.

The senior class of 2019 took to the halls last Friday during West Fest to paint their bricks. Crowding into the two side hallways, seniors stood on tables and chairs to paint their bricks surrounded by their friends.

Students are given the opportunity to paint whatever they want on their bricks, but must complete a form the week of West Fest to plan their bricks and pay the five dollar fee to paint. All materials are provided; the only requirement is a bit of creativity.

For seniors, this is a way to preserve their time at Normal West. In the future, alumni will be able to return to the school and see a visual reminder of their many memories at West. Here’s a look at some of the brick additions this year:

Some students, like Anna Bankston, opt for a personal message that is understood by only the creator and a few select friends.

Popular shows, music, and movies often make their onto the brings as students capture something that got them through all the late nights studying, like “Friends” for Lauren Brown.

Others make their marks by simply putting their names on brightly colored bricks like Emily Hartman.

Students like Molly Mook celebrate their future by giving a nod to their career of choice; for Mook, it’s education.

A new trend is the use of gold and silver metallics on bricks. Danielle Flesher used gold to outline her name and add a little extra touch.

Friends Leigha Bland, Sam Willimans, and Dara Kane not only use their favorite shows as inspiration but painted conjoined bricks to also celebrate their friendships formed at West.

Others chose to make detailed paintings on their walls of something that they loved like Ella Mucciolo.

Many people choose to show off their colleges of choice by painting beings with the names, logos or maps of intended colleges like me, Emily Bauman, who is heading to Bradley University.

Other choose to paint fun bricks that didn’t necessarily mean something particularly special but would just be good for a laugh or a smile in many years.

Foreign exchange student Gina Dauenheimer painted a brick in the halls of Normal West before leaving the States. Her brick celebrated her nationality cleverly placed outside the German classroom.