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.[1] A rock at Northwestern University is said to have "inches of paint after 80 years of the tradition".[2] The tradition may have started in the 1950s or 1960s at universities and high schools.[3]

A "spirit rock" at University of North Carolina at Wilmington

Rocks are usually indigenous but they can be delivered to the school as a specifically designated senior rock.[4] In at least one case a rock has been donated from one graduating class to a following class of seniors.[5] A senior rock at Olympia High School was "dumped" from a local quarry after another one had been removed.[6]

Council Rock High School North in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, is named for a rock which is frequently painted.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Deer Isle-Stonington Historical Society 2008, p. 20.
  2. ^ Ellie Olmanson (October 31, 2016), "'The Rock:' True Colors of WHS?", Trojan Tribune, Plymouth, Minnesota: Wayzata High School
  3. ^ "Dulaney Senior Rock Painting", The Baltimore Sun, It's been a tradition since 1965.
  4. ^ "Senior Rock Delivered to MHS", School news official website, Malvern, Ohio: Brown Local Schools, September 2015, retrieved 2019-02-16
  5. ^ Brian Benson (February 19, 2017), Wayland: Seniors paint over rock's graffiti, Wayland, Mass.: Wayland Wicked Local
  6. ^ Kainber 2007, p. 96.

Sources

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Further reading

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