For most, Olympics is simply a fun one-day event, but behind the scenes, the Olympic Committee, class officers, and advisors work non-stop for this day all year. While many students spend weeks planning their perfect Olympic outfits, these select students and teachers work tirelessly for months planning and setting up to ensure an enjoyable experience for the whole school.

Leading up to the Olympics, a plethora of different preparations have to be made. While the Olympic Committee and class officers all work on Olympics, each group has its own task to complete. The Olympic Committee figures out which events should take place, ranging from opening, individual, and closing events. After deciding which events should take place, the members must work on setting up any supplies needed for the events. For months preceding Olympics, the committee goes through tedious processes to make sure everything is where it should be, like completing all of the puzzles to make sure the pieces are all there, or counting every penny needed for penny stacking for the Minute-to-Win-It event.

While the Committee works on creating the events, class officers and advisors help their own grade succeed in Olympics. This includes the task of painstakingly creating rosters to place students in events. In addition, they are in charge of writing and planning the class song, filming commercials, and setting up decorations. Creating the roster for the Olympics is the most difficult part of planning, according to Junior Vice President, Hunter Neuman. “Making the roster is the hardest part for us because it can take up to three to six hours. We don’t know exactly who to put into events and if they’ll enjoy it, or even show up. After being classmates for freshman and sophomore year, we have an idea of who the most committed are and who we can trust to show up to their events,” says Neuman. The officers might spend hours planning to put students into events, but their hard work could all go to waste if said students decide not to show up. Making changes that will benefit the majority is also another chance that the Committee and officers have to take. “The hardest thing that goes into organizing Olympics is making sure that every change that we make is a change that will make everyone happy,” says Olympic Committee member Rosie Kang (’20). Every decision made has a pro and a con, and the Committee and officers have to choose the resolution that will benefit the most.

These pre-Olympic preparations are very time consuming and they are worked on for months. Planning begins all the way from early September right up until the night before Olympics. Weeks leading up to the Olympics are filled with late hours spent at school trying to plan every detail. In fact, the committee and class officers stay late at school the night before to decorate their class´s designated corner of the gymnasium.

Chances are you’ve seen the committee and officers set up on the day of Olympics. The committee members work through the day—distinguishable with their purple shirts that clearly state “Olympic Committee”—and run back and forth from the Pitt, which is transformed into a Olympics station. The class officers are always decked out in their class colors, and each class has its own table set up: freshman and sophomores by the tiger statue and juniors and seniors outside the Pitt. The day of Olympics, while still enjoyable, is definitely a stressful and chaotic day for these students, who continue organizing and setting up throughout the day.

Only officers, the committee, and class advisors are allowed inside of the Pitt on Olympic Day. The Pitt is the mitochondria of the school on this day, the powerhouse of Olympics. All of the supplies, games, rulebooks, etc. that are needed in the events come from this room. Before each block (A, B, C, or D), the Olympic Committee goes to each room or gym to hand out the supplies for the events that will be held there. Around 10 minutes before each block starts, the Committee goes on a “supply sweep,” where the members gather all of the supplies from the previous events and distribute the new ones for the upcoming ones.

Olympics is definitely one of the school’s favorite traditions. Regardless of grade or athletic ability, all students can find Olympics to be a fun and exciting day. However, none of this would be possible without the efforts of the Olympic Committee, class officers, and advisors, who dedicate hours of their time to ensure that all students have an enjoyable experience.