Every year around the month of March, all four grades of THS compete in the annual Olympics, an in-school competition that runs throughout the entire day with each grade facing each other in competitive events. As one of the most lively days of the school year, the Olympics has been a Tenafly High School tradition for decades as students compete in over 130+ events ranging from academics, sports, to other fun activities. This year, the Olympics will be held on March 8, and as usual, it is bound to bring excitement and drama.
As part of the tradition, each grade chooses a class theme based on their grade name and their grade color. This year, the four grades have chosen the following themes: Fast and Furious Freshmen, Subway (Surfers) Sophomores, Into the Junior-Verse, and Spartan Seniors. The preparation for the Olympics is mostly done by the class officers, who work together alongside two designated Olympic coordinators to make the class roster and carry out other activities such as decorate the hallways, create a class cheer song, and more.
This year, there are numerous new events that have been added to the Olympics. Here is a list of some new events that are making a debut this year:
Table Surfing: For the first time, Table Surfing will be added as an Opening event this year, meaning that it will be held in the Main Gym during the opening ceremony. The rules are simple: one student sits on top of a table, and the rest of the students will roll on the ground to guide the table across the finish line. Being a huge trend over the Internet in recent years, this new event is bound to bring more excitement for students.
TETR.IO: A classic game that has recently risen to popularity once more, Tetr.io (Tetris) will be added as an event this year. Similar to the rules of traditional Tetris, it is an online puzzle game that involves strategically clearing lines of blocks. Students from each grade will compete against each other in the “versus” gamemode with multiple rounds.
Photo Mission: This new event will run longer than the traditional events, and will be due 1:45pm on Olympic day. As the name suggests, the goal of this event is to create a crowd-sourced slideshow of the events that occur during the Olympics. It will surely be intriguing to capture the various emotions of students upon viewing the slideshows!
In addition to these events, some other events that are being added to this year’s Olympics include Flag Football, Exploding Kittens (card game), Pass the Ball Relay, and Jigsaw Puzzle.
Many students have already expressed their excitement for Olympics day, a special occasion where each grade can unite as one group to compete and chase the grand prize of being first at the end of the day. As a class officer myself, I spoke with some of the other officers for the Sophomore Class who expressed their expectations for this year’s Olympics. “I expect the Olympics to be as fun as ever this year,” said Davin Shin (‘26), the Treasurer for the Sophomore class. “It provides a good break from the tedious rhythm of school and also fosters a competitive spirit within everyone,” he added on. Although being an officer, Shin also expressed his excitement to participate in the Olympics, stating that “personally, I am excited to participate in a couple of Olympics events with my friends.” Dayoung Ahn (‘26), the Secretary for the Sophomore Class, also expressed her views regarding the event. “The Olympics is one of the biggest events our school has every year, but that also means a lot of work goes on behind the scenes, weeks and months in advance,” she stated. She acknowledged that “although it’s a stressful time, it’s ultimately worth it in the end.”
With the 45th Olympics just around the corner, it will be very entertaining to see each of the four grades wrestling for the grand prize of winning the annual competition. Four teams, one winner. Who will it be? We’ll soon find out.
