By Lucy Stoter
News Editor
Chris Wilson accepts a plaque thanking him for his contributions to the weight room.
After years of falling behind and operating outdated workout facilities, the athletic programs of R.J. Reynolds High School have undergone a complete transformation. Due to the generous donation made by Chris Wilson on behalf of the Wilson Family Foundation, RJR can completely redo and improve its weight room.
“I was able to get some support from Booster Club and Coach Nathaniel Litt when he was here, and we were able to get a generous donation from the Wilson Family Foundation, which was about $90,000,” Physical Education and Health Teacher Joe Davidyock said. “Then we were able to cover the rest with the reverse raffle, and that’s how it became a possibility.”
The new Wilson Weight Room will benefit the athletics and community within RJR. The improvements will help enhance the experience and performance of athletes across all sports, as well as students in the weight-lifting class.
“There are about four hundred unique athletes at Reynolds, and we teach about a hundred and fifty students a week in the weight room,” Davidyock said. “By sheer math alone, there’s a lot of bodies that go through there, and I think as we try to close the gap athletically, the facility’s going to really change some lives.”
The improvements planned for the new weight room were completed at the beginning of December, and some of the upgrades have included: new racks, dumbbells, pile boxes, rubber bumpers, and rack attachments. All of these changes should enhance the quality of the space and grow the appeal of RJR for prospective students.
“I think at the end of the day, it’s a pretty good recruiting tool,” Wilson said. “If there’s a family or a potential athlete that may be moving into that district and likes the fact that they could go to RJR and get a fantastic education, and couple that with the fact that they could go ahead and compete at a high level in athletics”.
Not only will the enhancements help attract new students to RJR, but they will also enhance facilities for current students. Many talented individuals come out of RJR, and a revamped weight room will only upgrade their game. As high school sports become increasingly competitive, athletes need the resources to remain at the top.
“As a former student athlete, both in high school and in college, I spent a lot of my time prepping for the sports that I played in the weight room,” Wilson said. “I felt that when I visited the RJR weight room that it was a facility that was behind the times. With the brand new Crater stadium, I only felt that it was a compliment to go ahead and invest in creating a newer space with better equipment.”
The improvement gives students access to a new range of possibilities. Shortening the gap between newly renovated schools and RJR will help recover many aspects of athletics that have previously not been prioritized. These changes are exciting athletes across the board, as they will have an impact on the rest of their time at RJR.
“I think that a new weight room will convince more athletes to get stronger during the off-season now that we have better equipment,” junior football and weight-lifting student Kevin Baker said. “More people may be willing to join sports teams and show up to practice with nicer facilities.”
The new facility only brings excitement to the students at RJR. The weight room will serve as a new avenue of athletic excellence and improve the environment of RJR as a whole. With hopes to improve the quality of all athletic facilities within RJR, this improvement was only the beginning.