Students and staff at Carlmont can breathe a sigh of relief as the physical education (PE) weight room, temporarily relocated after a flood earlier this year, is gradually being reassembled in its original space.
At the beginning of the school year, the weight room and locker rooms experienced severe flooding. This incident forced PE classes to relocate equipment to the Scots Gym. After months of temporary adjustments, staff and students are finally moving the equipment back into the refurbished weight room.
“By being in the Scots Gym, we were able to devise somewhat of a weight room so we could hold our classes this semester, but it impacted our classes because we weren’t able to do all of the lifts that we usually do,” said David Heck, Carlmont PE Department Chair.
In the new, renovated weight room, many changes and improvements have been made. However, these improvements took time to implement, which slowed down the overall reassembly of the weight room.
“The good thing is, we got new flooring for the weight room out of it,” Heck said. “That was the main thing that took the longest — getting the insurance money cleared, then being able to order the flooring, and then having it shipped before we could even get it assembled.”
The flooding, which disrupted classes and athletic programs, highlighted the challenges of adapting to limited space. PE classes had to adjust their routines to fit into smaller areas, while sports teams faced constraints on their practice sessions, often competing for space with other programs.
“Due to the lack of space, because we were shoved right next to the weight room, we didn’t have enough space to lay out all three of our wrestling mats, so the growing wrestling team was pretty much shoved into a tiny little space, which restricted our practice and ability,” said Alan Goldberg, a Carlmont sophomore on the wrestling team.
Additionally, many students’ strength training was disrupted as a result.
“A lot of the machines in the temporary weight room, when you would work out on them, would just move back and forth. It was very unstable and affected my progress in the class,” said Daniel Kudzelka, a Carlmont sophomore. “The quality of my training would’ve been improved with a better weight room to work out in. I think we were limited in doing our exercises and weren’t able to do all of the ones planned.We did our best with what we had.”
Many students across campus previously used the weight room on a regular basis.
“I think working out is important to live a happy life, especially at such an academically inclined school like Carlmont, where stress levels can be very high,” Goldberg said.
With the weight room slowly being restored to its original condition, teachers and students alike are looking forward to a more organized and functional space. Many will be able to return to their normal routines, and PE teachers on campus will be able to return to their regular curriculum.
“Everything is pretty much getting back into place now. After working in there for the last four days, we’ll be ready to go soon,” Heck said.
