On Sept. 3, Pascack Hills was forced to evacuate after a gas smell coming from the boiler room. Originally, the School Government Association (SGA) planned on having a school-wide Olympics pep rally during the afternoon, but it was held during the evacuation instead. 

Each grade level represented a different country: the freshmen were Brazil, sophomores were Argentina, juniors were Italy, and seniors were Spain. SGA decorated the hallways for each grade level and students wore their countries’ colors. 

Each grade level participated in all but two events that were planned. They include tug of war, potato sack races, three-legged race, dizzy bat soccer, and 4×100 relay race.

An emergency led to the Olympics being cut short; however, the two events that did not occur will happen at the next pep rally with the same volunteers on Sept. 24. 

Following the end of the evacuation and Olympics, students and staff followed an abbreviated schedule and attended the classes that they did not see that day. The fire department and PSE&G came to Hills and declared it safe to go back inside. 

During period eight, Principal Tim Wieland made an announcement, thanking students and staff for their patience during the evacuation and Olympics. The score for the Olympics was tallied for the events that did occur: from first to fourth place were the sophomores, seniors, freshmen, and juniors. The score will continue to be tallied at the next pep rallies. 

The Trailblazer posted on their Twitter and Instagram accounts during the evacuation and SGA Olympics to keep students and staff updated. There are more photos from the Olympics in this photo gallery.