Novi High School seniors claim their parking spots with art

NOVI — For the third year running, Novi High School seniors kicked off their final year of school by claiming and painting their parking spots Aug.11. 

Despite the intense heat, more than 200 seniors spent the following week decorating their spots with their friends and family. 

“It’s a really good, like, bonding activity,” said Avrie Antrobius, 17. 

Antrobius said she was able to work with her friends, and they helped each other decorate their parking spots.

The annual event is a fundraiser for the Senior All Night Party, which will take place at the school following graduation on May 17, 2026. The party gives students a safe way to celebrate their graduation with their classmates before they go their separate ways.

Senior Ryan Burr said he chose to participate in the event to help fund the party, but he enjoyed hanging out with friends to work on the project.

“It’s nice to kind of reconnect with the people I haven’t seen in a while and still be able to hang out with the people I’ve been with all summer,” said Burr.

To participate in the event, students paid $105 for a designated parking spot in one of two student lots: the front lot off 10 Mile Road near the tennis courts and the theater, or the back lot off Taft Road near the football field. Forty-five dollars out of the purchase price goes toward the party. Students choose which lot and whom they park by, while committee members designate which spot they get.

Antrobius said that she has been looking forward to participating in the parking spot event since it was initiated during her sophomore year.

“It’s just kind of that feeling of knowing you’re finally a senior,” she said. “It’s fun to know you have your own space almost. It’s like a special thing, I feel. You’re about to leave, and you get your own space, and you get to come here every day with your friends that you’re (parking) by.”

Many parents even jumped in to help their kids paint their spots. Burr’s dad, Jason, helped his son paint the parking spot where he will be parking his 2019 Jeep Wrangler.

“Is it really for the kids? I’ve seen more parents out here doing work than kids,” Jason Burr joked.

He said he thought that it was a great fundraiser and event.

“It’s a great fundraiser. It gives the kids an outlet for their creativity, and then they always know where they are going to park,” Jason Burr said. “They all come late anyway; at least now they’ll know where they’re supposed to be parking and not have to try, like, the Civic Center or wherever else.”

The location of their spots was important for best friends Tessa Taulbee and Brooklynn Schomaker, who were able to get “the luck of the draw” by not just getting their spots next to each other, but back to back. They said that they had hoped to have their parking spots like that, for parking ease, but it truly was luck of the draw, as they don’t pick exactly which spots they get.

“I wanted her spot to be in front of mine because she doesn’t come to school on time, so I could pull through into my spot,” said Taulbee with a laugh.

The parking spot designs had to be submitted in advance of the event to ensure that they were appropriate for the school. The designs reflect the students’ passions, hobbies, extracurricular activities, noteworthy characteristics and life mottos.

“My spot, it’s kind of silly, but I’m always late every day, so my spot says, ‘If you’re reading this, I’m late,’ with a clock that says 8:10 a.m.,” Alyssa Zellman said.

High school classes in Novi begin at 8 a.m. 

Her mother, Tiffany, was assisting her with the project. She said that her daughter is indeed late for everything, and she has no idea where she gets that from, as she and her husband are very punctual and are at least 15 minutes early for everything.  She said her son, who is going to be a freshman this year, will not be riding to school with his sister.

Antrobius decorated her spot with a stop sign that has her life motto on it, “Never stop having fun.” Burr’s spot reflects the sports he plays, baseball and basketball, and has his initials.

The committee kept the parking lots blocked off for the kids to decorate their spots through Aug. 17.