By: Juliette Poitrimol

At Syosset High School, athletes don’t just leave behind memories, they leave behind their legacy through their names. For decades, seniors from every single sport have stepped into that tiny, dusty storage closet and added their signatures to the bricks on the walls. It’s never been an official ceremony; there are no speeches, no cameras, no rules. It’s just seniors: nervous, excited, proud, leaving their final mark on the place that shaped them. It is the moment when they take a marker, touch the wall, and become part of something that is even bigger than themselves.

These bricks hold hundreds of names. Hundreds of stories; moments of triumph, heartbreak, friendships, pride, and every little thing in between. Hundreds of athletes who ran the same halls, wore the same jerseys, and felt the same pride. They serve as a timeline of our athletic selves, documented in marker. Every signature is proof that someone stood exactly where athletes stand now and loved this school enough to leave a piece of themselves behind. And now, with the new gym plans, all of it is set to be demolished. Not replaced. Not relocated. Just erased.

Sure yes, a shiny new gym is exciting. Who doesn’t want better facilities? But destroying the bricks without preserving them is like tearing out a chapter of Syosset history. When those walls go down, it won’t just be the concrete that disappears. It’ll be memories. It’ll be tradition. It’ll be decades of athletes (their voices, their laughter, their friendships) gone in seconds under a bulldozer. This tradition has survived decades without ever being written into a rulebook, and that’s exactly what makes it powerful. These bricks matter because students cared enough to keep it alive year after year. Seniors told juniors, and juniors told sophomores. Because the act of signing your name meant something.

There are ways to save them. The school could remove sections of the wall and rebuild them into the new gym. They could preserve it behind glass. They could turn it into a permanent mural. The new gym could include a space where future athletes continue signing their names. Don’t choose between the future of the school and the memories of its past. Honor both.

This isn’t about a closet. It’s about preserving a piece of Syosset’s heart. When people look back years from now, they won’t remember the exact layout of the old gym. But they will remember the moment bricks were signed. They’ll remember seeing the names of people who came before and realize they were part of something bigger. Don’t let progress wipe away the past. Choose to build a new gym without bulldozing Syosset history. Save the bricks. Save the tradition. Save the legacy every athlete trusts the school to protect.