On March 7, students and staff members united to celebrate the 46th Annual Olympics, a longstanding tradition at Tenafly High School. The event is widely recognized and celebrated among students as the four grades battle for victory in over 120 events, ranging from academic, athletic, and “fun” events.  

Every year, each grade rolls out with a new class theme, which are often inspired by pop culture characters, shows, or movies. This year, the Freshmen competed as “Freshminions” (Minions), the Sophomores as “Smurfmores” (Smurfs), the Juniors as “Junior Jedis” (Jedis), and the Seniors as “Senior Showdown” (Wild West). In the end, the Seniors took the win dominantly, with the Juniors placing second, the Sophomores placing third, and Freshmen in last place. 

In the morning, the event begins with opening events held at the Main Gym, where students gather in the stands with their respective grades to watch and participate in some major events. Some popular traditional opening events include Tug of War, Knockout, and Fourway Cage Ball, all of which were met with great anticipation and cheers. This year’s Olympics also marked the first-time debut of the Mattress Relay event, where participants race to the finish line by sliding themselves into mattresses. 

Throughout the day, students move around the school to their respective events, which each begin in different times of the day. They are often separated into A, B, C, and D blocks, with the A-block events marking the events in the morning, while D-block events refer to events at the end of the day. In the end, the event concludes with Closing events at the Main Gym, which include events like Musical Chairs, Limbo, and Karaoke. 

Mrs. Leigh Barker, the Olympics advisor, shared her thoughts about the event: “It was one of the best Olympics we had since the 2020 Olympics, which was right before the pandemic. The upperclassmen certainly looked very spirited, and the officers did a great job.” Barker continued by praising the various staff members who helped organize various events during the day of Olympics. “The custodians and the teachers… They also deserve credit for using their own time to help the Olympics, so big shout-outs to them,” she said. In the end, Barker believes that the event was a “huge success,” filled with unprecedented spirit and competition between the grades. 

A major part of the Olympics planning is completed by the class officers of each grade, as they work to organize students into their events with communication, and lead many major sections of planning such as hallway decorations, the class banner, and the class commercial.

Liam Tenenbaum (’25), the Senior Class President, reflected on planning for the Olympics throughout all four years and expressed his delight about the Seniors’ victory. “Winning the Olympics meant so much for me, the other officers, and the entire Senior class,” Tenenbaum said. “It’s something that we’ve worked for all four years, something that we really wanted to make sure we got before we graduated.” Meredith Ho (’25), the Senior VP, expressed similar sentiment regarding the event. “After our very disappointing loss last year when we lost by only a few points, we felt a bit dejected and out of spirit. [But] we went into this year with a bigger plan, and I felt very emotional knowing this was our last Olympics,” Ho said.  “The Seniors had to multitask with college applications and preparations for Tux… so it was definitely harder to manage, but we got through it very well in the end.” 

The 46th Annual Olympics was once again a huge success that united the students and raised the spirits within the school. Thank you to the Olympic Committee, THS staff members, class officers, and all the students for making this event possible! Congratulations, Seniors.