Playing cornhole and enjoying treats from an ice cream truck are some of the activities CHS students and families participated in at the first annual Back to School Social on Friday, Sept. 9. The Parent Student Faculty Association (PSFA) hosted this event at Allaire State Park.

According to PSFA Co-President Kristen Cichon, this event was meant to replace the Sweets by the Beach tradition. The Historic Village at Allaire served as a great venue because it was a fun, outdoor space that could accommodate the students and families from the CHS community.

“Our hopes were to have both students and parents socialize and establish connections to help with the transition to CHS,” Cichon said. “At one point, while standing in line at Goldy’s Ice Cream truck, I actually overheard a student saying ‘I’m so glad I came today, because I met you.’”

Freshman Dylan Glusman of Middletown attended the social and had a positive experience.

“I had a lot of fun,” Glusman said. “I would definitely go to something like this again if there is one next year.”

Senior Sarah Rau of Manalapan agrees with Glusman.

“It was a fun way to kick off the year,” Rau said. “I would say my favorite part was walking around catching up with friends. There were some people I haven’t seen yet this year because we don’t have classes together or aren’t in the same grade, so it was nice to see them too.”