Taking a step into the seniors’ next chapter in life, the class of 2024 winds down after four long and eventful years of high school, reminiscing their memories at graduation. One long-standing, memorable tradition at West is the senior hand wall: seniors paint and stamp their handprints on a mural in the cafeteria to leave one final legacy. The process to choose the mural design involved a competition where seniors submitted their designs to be voted on amongst the graduating class. This year, senior Natalie Lashly and her friends created the winning design inspired by the Dr. Seuss movie, “The Lorax.” Lashly, along with seniors Paige Schnarr, Ava Edwards, Emily Early and Jojo Shank all took time to develop the hand wall over spring break and throughout the rest of the fourth quarter of the school year. 

“Two of my friends who I’ve done art classes with encouraged me to submit a design and they did too. I really liked the ‘Up’ inspired wall in the cafeteria [with its] whimsical, cartoon vibe. So I [thought that] something bright would be cute,” Lashly said. “During Ac Lab, I sketched the design with markers, and then I submitted my photo to the Google Form. Another form came out [to vote]; there were over 10 different designs, and I won by one vote.”

In the final round of voting, Lashly’s competitor was senior Sarah Reifschneider’s Bruno Mars 24K Magic design. Despite Lashly making efforts to create a positive atmosphere, she faced criticism and controversy from her grade level between the two competing designs. 

“Reifschneider is a really good artist, and her design was great. I feel honored and grateful that I got to run with her. [Digital art teacher] Katy Mangrich [also helped promote my design] and got all my votes for me. She was really going out for me,” Lashly said. “For the most part, I’ve gotten good feedback from teachers. There were just negative comments coming from peers.”

Regardless of the backlash, Lashly continued with the project and made efforts to make the Lorax design inclusive to everyone in the student body. During the seniors’ time of putting their handprints on the wall, many felt that they were a part of something that would leave a mark.

“The movie was made in 2012, so I wanted to do something [that] everyone [remembers] and grew up [watching]. Putting my hand on the wall was really special to me because it felt like I was leaving my mark on West for the next 15 or so years. My friends and I thought of it as leaving behind a legacy for us and our class which I thought was a pretty neat take on it,” Lashly said. “I had noticed, from previous years the painters placed their handprints in separate places to show that they worked on it. I liked that idea because even though it was for the whole class, there was [effort] put into creating the wall.”

Lashly and her friends who helped paint the hand wall put their handprints in significant areas to stand out more. They also invited head principal John McCabe, assistant principal Mario Pupillo and assistant secretary Jenny Moulton to put their hands on the senior hand wall as well.

“What we noticed when we were painting is that in previous classes, the creators of the wall put their handprints in special places away from the rest of the class or in a different color. It resembled that they were the ones that worked on it, so we thought to put our hands on the Truffula trees,” Lashly said.

The class of 2024 looks back on all the memories they created in high school in the bittersweet moments of graduation. They walk through the school’s campus one last time embracing these last few moments. Leaving their handprint behind as a symbolic mark of those who have once walked the halls of Parkway West.

“What I think the class of 2024 should live by is to always persevere. Don’t let little things like popularity and other people’s judgments get in the way of what you love and what your dreams are,” Lashly said. “It sounds cliché, but being genuine and staying true to yourself is the best look you could [ever] have. Being undeniably yourself [and] not just a persona that is expected of you can get you far in life. Especially today, we get caught up with what our image is and what others think of us, but I think what’s most important is just being authentic and yourself always.”

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Esta Kamau

Smiling while participating in the annual tradition, assistant secretary Jenny Moulton stamps her hand onto the senior hand wall. "I thought [the wall] was amazing. The young ladies who painted it did a fantastic job. Being asked to participate in it also just meant so much to me; it really made me feel special and I was happy to be a part of that. I love the movie 'The Lorax' and I [especially] loved the colors that they used. The way they were able to put everything on the wall from their vision was remarkable," Moulton said.