By EMMA MCCAFFREY – Students at CHS dressed up in their Halloween costumes a week early for the annual Halloween Dance.

SkillsUSA hosted the dance on Friday, Oct. 24 from 6:30-9:00 p.m. Members of the club stayed after school to decorate the cafeteria with neon lights and cobwebs to capture the graveyard theme.

Junior Clay Paley of Howell, treasurer of SkillsUSA, served as the DJ of the dance along with fellow junior Brian Brown of Sea Girt.

“I would have preferred a little 80’s music to mix it up and a little less rap,” said sophomore Sarah Lang of Monmouth Beach. “But, overall, it was fun.”

Besides dancing, students were also given an opportunity to participate in a costume contest judged by a panel of teachers. The freshmen dominated the contest, winning each of the three categories: most creative, scariest and group.

Freshman Andrew Wang of Morganville won the contested creative costume contest by dressing up as the man from the famous painting “The Son of Man” by Rene Magritte.

Dressed as Red Riding Hood with a bloody gash on her cheek, freshman Veronica Yaron of Little Silver beat out several other scary costumes such as zombies and witches

The group category had the most competitors, including characters from Sesame Street and a group of scarecrows. The winners were Cameron DeStefano, Triona Padala and Rebecca Madeira of Middletown, along with non-CHS friend Maeve Maguire of Middletown. The group dressed up as characters from the TV show Dr. Who.

“The dance was certainly a success for the club, and we are happy that people were able to support us and come out and have a good time,” said junior Christina Noll of Hazlet, secretary of SkillsUSA.