As AHS students may have noticed last week the chimney, previously serving as seniors’ beacon of pride, still bears the painted 16 of last year’s seniors.

Because of safety reasons and construction on the roof, Principal Tim Thomas chose not to allow the seniors to paint the chimney this year. Considering how the chimney is the most visible painted tradition, seniors balked at the notion of missing out on the opportunity to paint it.

“I’m extremely bummed about it because it was a fun tradition that I was looking forward to, plus it’s so noticeable,” senior class president Matthew Vogus said. “It was a good way to celebrate how far we came along, but I understand the reasoning for not being able to.”

Thomas cited numerous factors contributing to the decision, but he said that the main cause is a concern for the safety of the seniors.

“Allowing students access to the roof and having students paint the chimney by being on cherry pickers is of concern to me, and it was of concern last year” Thomas said. “There have been some pretty unfortunate incidents involving FCPS, specifically several years ago, there was an incident at an elementary school in the Reston area.”

The incident mentioned included a 14-year-old boy who fell off of a roof at Fox Mill Elementary School and onto a live wire. He was electrocuted and died.

“Especially since then there’s been more of a spotlight on safety around rooftops,” Thomas said. “I felt like I was being a little bit hypocritical by supporting a tradition that puts our students at risk, number one being on the roof and number two accessing the chimney through a cherry picker (a truck with a basket on it).”

In addition to his safety concerns, Thomas said that construction on the roof would have conflicted with the project.

“The roof was under repair this summer and they still have a punch list of items that they’re going through,” Thomas said. “The information that we’ve received from the supervisor of the project is that there’s still some ongoing work that needs to be done.”

Because of the lost tradition, Thomas suggested to the senior class start a new tradition.

“I discussed the possibility of painting the bleachers, and we talked about also painting 17 on the bleachers or EL17E somewhere outside,” Thomas said. “If the senior class is really an elite group, then it makes sense that they would start a new tradition.”

Thomas put in a request for the current chimney design to be painted over in red or black.

Vogus said that senior SGA is looking forward to starting a new tradition, and they are considering several different options to replace the chimney. The senior class will not let this setback diminish their spirit.

“Our class will rally behind and embrace the change and continue to be the leaders in spirit in our school,” Vogus said.