In the first week of September, with the determined goal of a year of academic success, Tenafly students approached the Tiger Study Den. After all, the open window view, cool air conditioning, and desk dividers provided the perfect environment for studying. However, when they heaved open the heavy door with a creak, they were met with a sight that made their jaws drop in shock. 

The usual desks were replaced with the shiny metal of workout machines, and the muted sounds of typing with arduous grunts. The students’ eyes blinked with a sudden recollection. 

Of course. The weight room had been relocated to the Tiger Study Den. 

After months of planning and preparation by the administrators, the THS weight room was finally renovated and relocated to the old Tiger Study Den upon the students’ arrival on September 3 with the purpose of creating a more refreshing exercising environment for students and athletes. Ella Plotkin (’27), a member of the Varsity Girls Soccer Team, was met with a pleasant sense of shock when she came across the new weight room. 

“I was very impressed,” Plotkin said. “[The school] actually spent the money and the time to make [the weight room] look put-together and nice.”

Lucia Martinez-Pelaez (’25) expressed similar opinions on the new weight room. 

“It’s much better ventilated than the previous weight room, which became a sauna halfway through a workout,” she said. “I also liked all the natural light that would come into the place. I will say I find it kind of awkward that people [outside] can just see others working out, but it’s not that big of a deal.”

According to Plotkin, the weight room is a place where the football and soccer teams kill time when they cannot use the John B. Geissinger field, which is their usual practice spot. The workout music that is on during the evening as well as the lively atmosphere of the room in an otherwise empty school was an animating change for Plotkin and her fellow athletes.

“[The new weight room] definitely creates a nice, welcoming community,” Plotkin said. “The music was on and Mr. Morrison and Coach [Quaranti] were there, along with a lot of different people—it wasn’t just my team, but people from all different grade levels. It’s nice to see that people can go there instead of paying a membership when they can literally get the same workout in the school’s weight room.”

Although Plotkin thinks that the relocation of the weight room was unnecessary, she admits that she is satisfied with the new weight room, putting an emphasis on its new equipment. 

“The equipment in the old weight room was kind of rusty,” Plotkin said. “The new equipment makes the weight room a lot better, and I feel like [it would motivate] people to work out more.”

However, as a result of the weight room’s relocation, the Tiger Study Den also had to move. Martinez-Pelaez expressed her frustration at this change.

“I don’t really like the new location of the Tiger Study Den,” she said. “It’s all the way in the front of the building and away from the other main study spaces of the school, like the library, courtyard, and cubby spaces.”

While admitting that she wasn’t bothered by the change as much as before, Martinez-Pelaez revealed feeling disgruntled at the fact that the administration carried out the changes of such vital locations without consulting students’ opinions. 

“The Tiger Study Den, like all areas, is a privilege to have in school, and it really annoyed me that we got a space taken away from us—the student body—without our input,” Martinez-Pelaez said. “I do understand the intention behind the move. However, I still miss the old Tiger Study Den.”

On the other hand, Plotkin thinks that changing the location of the Tiger Study Den has actually created a better environment for students to study.

“When I used the [old] Tiger Study Den, people were having lunch outside, so it was loud,” Plotkin said. “So, I feel like it is beneficial that it moved to [the current location] because it’s a lot quieter and we can focus [better.]”

As students continue to use both facilities with different levels of satisfaction, it seems like only time will attest to whether these changes were worth making.