TOWAMENCIN– Excitement and an ambiance of friendly competition filled the high school gyms and hallways on Thursday night as students cheered for each other and chatted amongst themselves during the North Penn High School’s fourth annual G.A.S. night, hosted by the Physical Education Department and led by the high school’s Director of Student Activities, Mr. Jonathan Fluck.

An acronym for games, activities, and sports, G.A.S. is a free night open to all students to experience the best that North Penn has to offer by getting active. A detailed schedule of the night highlighted the numerous activities available, ranging from pickleball to badminton to rock climbing to spinning. The night ended with a dodgeball tournament in which friends enthusiastically formed teams and competed for bragging rights.

Students participating in the fun night not only enjoyed time with their friends and fellow classmates but also received a slip for a free gym makeup, a valuable prize that makes up for repetitive laps in a pool or jogging in a gym.

Senior Rylie McKelvie was excited to participate in the fun night provided by the school.

“It’s a lot of fun, especially since there are so many people here,” said McKelvie. “It’s cool that we can choose to do what we want for the night, and it’s pretty awesome we get a free gym makeup for coming, too.”

McKelvie’s friend, junior Megan James, agreed.

“Gym is more fun in school when we get to choose what to do, so G.A.S. is awesome because we can choose whatever we want to do in any of the gyms,” said James. “It’s a good way to get the most out of everything the P.E. department offers.”

Students were not the only ones impressed by the event. Dressed in a neon yellow shirt with G.A.S. sprawled across the front, Mr. Jonathan Fluck was ecstatic to see so much success in the night.

“If kids want to play basketball, they can play that all three hours, or ping pong, or climb the rock wall, or lift ,or do yoga, or Just Dance – or choose whatever they want to do. It’s just a great night. You see the diversity that we have here, and it’s great to see kids who don’t usually get together having a great time,” said Fluck.

With much hard work and dedication, the P.E. department once again succeeded in hosting a great night, continuing the tradition that started a few years ago. With the immense help from the P.E. department, Fluck began to lead the annual G.A.S. night when he arrived at North Penn.

“When I started here at the high school four years ago, we wanted to showcase all the great things that we do in our Phys. Ed. classes, so we came up with G.A.S.,” said Fluck. “It’s a free night for all students, and we usually do it for three hours where students come out, and we just open up all of our great facilities here and let kids choose what they want to do.”

Without a doubt, the night was once again truly a success. Allowing students to choose their activities made the night fun for everyone. With such a great turnout for the fourth annual event, G.A.S. night will surely become another great tradition of North Penn High School.