70-year Neshaminy tradition celebrates teamwork, creativity and friendship

 

For the past 70 years, Neshaminy High School stu­dents have staged an annu­al event so big, so unique, and so full of ener­gy and life that it defies easy descrip­tion. On the sur­face Gym Night is a two-day, three-show com­pe­ti­tion between red and blue – the school divid­ed into two teams – who spend weeks and months prepar­ing and prac­tic­ing elab­o­rate chore­o­graphed dances for each grade, cre­at­ing artis­tic murals and props, com­pet­ing in a vari­ety of phys­i­cal chal­lenges, all in prepa­ra­tion for a show that is proud­ly described as, “Often imi­tat­ed, nev­er duplicated.”

The video doc­u­men­tary below was pro­duced for this year’s edi­tion, which was held on March 3 and 4. The video takes a look back at the his­to­ry of Gym Night, fol­lows the weeks and months of prepa­ra­tion, and includes inter­views with stu­dent lead­ers and Gym Night alumni.

Gym Night was start­ed in 1954 by Harry E. Franks, the chair of the Health and Physical Education Department at the brand high school build­ing. An instant hit with stu­dents, it changed names over the first few years, from “Field Day” to “Fun Night” and final­ly, “Gym Night.” The basic con­cept of Red ver­sus Blue teams, deter­mined by stu­dents last names, com­pet­ing in a vari­ety of phys­i­cal and cre­ative chal­lenges, remains to this day. Neshaminy briefly host­ed a sec­ond Gym Night in the late 1970’s and ear­ly 1980s with the open­ing of Maple Point High School, but by 1983 those stu­dents returned to Neshaminy and the col­ors were once again joined.

As the pop­u­la­tion in the area explod­ed through the fol­low­ing decades, the scope of Gym Night expand­ed and the bar was raised on the qual­i­ty and cre­ativ­i­ty of the entire pro­duc­tion. The dec­o­ra­tions got a lit­tle more glam­orous, the exhi­bi­tions a lit­tle more Broadway, and the relays a lit­tle more chal­leng­ing every year.

Gym Night is always very much a student-run pro­duc­tion. Captains elect­ed from each grade who plan and exe­cute the chore­og­ra­phy, the murals, the dec­o­ra­tions, and coach their relay teams. From late December through ear­ly March, every­thing at Neshaminy is all about Gym Night as the stu­dents work day and night get­ting ready for a show they will remem­ber for the rest of their lives.

Any tra­di­tion like this can­not be sus­tained with­out a lot of sup­port and ded­i­ca­tion. Thanks to the phys­i­cal edu­ca­tion teach­ers, admin­is­tra­tors, teach­ers and sup­port staff through­out the dis­trict, plus an ever-changing army of par­ent and com­mu­ni­ty vol­un­teers, Gym Night remains a cher­ished part of grow­ing up at Neshaminy.