From staying in school, lifting, and sweating off the day, to crowding the hallways, students will have to adapt to the new expectation for the next two weeks.

Leyden’s team has set a policy that the weight room will close temporarily. From November 3rd to 17th, students will struggle to walk in and out of gyms, hallways, and bathrooms.

Mr. Smith, a gym teacher as well as Girls Basketball coach at Leyden complains, “We have heavy traffic now in the field house, so when we’re trying to get practice going, we have many students who are walking through the court and after sweeping it, then it gets all dirty again.”

Because so many different teams used to utilise the weight room for practice, they now have to use the gym. This becomes an issue due to the fact that so many people are walking in and out of the gym, dirtying and disrupting practice for sports.

Drivers ED teacher, Mr Benion, explains that, “We close it every time we start a new season, so it gives people opportunities to try out for the teams, and it’s closed until Monday. But I think it’s encouraging to get everybody to try out for that’s a way to encourage them to be a part of the school, to be more engaged in the school, right? So it’s a way to, like, move students out of the weight room.”

In addition to the stress the weight room closing caused, the locker rooms have been in the same situation for a while. Bathrooms became swarmed with students of all sport backgrounds trying to get changed and ready for their after school activities. With this closing, also came students in disagreement with policy. 

Two juniors,  Adrian Aldana and Carlos Rodriguez share their experience with this set policy. Aldana commented that it, “kind of took away a big part of my schedule. I didn’t have anything to do at school, so I just kind of roamed around the hallways.” Likewise, Rodriguez, at his side added, “It’s [the weight room], you know, more convenient. I had to buy another membership to Planet Fitness. So I just spent money.” 

Though the effort to minimize student solidarity is in the picture, many students did not think this policy executed its goal well. 

To the contrary belief, Benion argues that, “It’s not a punishment to students, though. Otherwise we keep it open all the time, but it’s actually an encouragement to help them to engage in school and engage in school culture. The more people that you have in school, the greater your school culture is.”

Looking forward, many students are anticipating the reopening of this center to get back on their schedule and also have a locker room awaiting them after winter break.