On September 10, the Welcome Back Tigers event kicked off the start of the new year at PHS. After more than a year of remote and hybrid learning, Princeton High School fully reopened with all students returning to complete in-person learning. The event took place on the second day of school.

The Welcome Back Tigers event was held after school from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m, lasting six hours so that even those with the busiest of schedules would be able to attend. The event was completely free and all students at PHS were encouraged to attend. As a health precaution, a sign-up form was sent out ahead of time in order to gauge how many people would be at the event.

PHS Principal Frank Chmiel, as well as other staff members, promoted the event with the goal of building stronger school spirit at PHS.

“This was an event that [Principal Chmiel] did at his former school. So he brought it to Princeton High School [and] hopefully now it’s a tradition that we’ll keep here,” said Diana Lygas, the Dean of Students at PHS.

While Chmiel had experience organizing similar events in the past, the Welcome Back Tigers event posed some logistical challenges, including needing to be rescheduled due to suboptimal weather.

“We originally had planned for it to be outside ... but then a storm came through [at] the same time so we [had to] cancel it,” Lygas said. “But aside from that ... it was pretty good.”

Students from all grades joined the event and got a chance to reconnect with their friends in person. Hanaan Sikder ’23 had a great time chatting with her friends at the event.

“I got to spend more time with my friends outside of school. I liked the part where [the school] allowed you to go outside [where] it was easier for me to talk with my friends while enjoying the Fair,” Sikder said.

Sofia Deng ’23 also enjoyed reconnecting with her friends during the event.

“My favorite part was the photo-taking in the PHS Tiger Gym. It [was] a good chance to take photos with friends, and it’s a good memory … I had a lot of fun so it makes me more excited to return to school,” Deng said.

Deng believes that it would be a good idea for PHS to continue this event in the future years since it provides both new and old students a chance to socialize.

“I think it helps people ... especially new students at PHS, to connect [and] get along with others, and get familiar with this school,” Deng said.

According to Lygas, the event will continue in the future with some possible time adjustments to fit into more student schedules.

“I don’t know if we’ll do it right at the start of school in the future. Maybe [next year] we’ll wait and save up for spirit week (which occurs in October) or do it before school starts,” Lygas said.

About 600 students attended the event, and the school’s staff organizational group was satisfied with the Welcome Back Tigers event’s outcome.

“We’ve been meeting with a student advisory group, so we will ask them at the next meeting … about their feedback for the event,” Lygas said. “And we definitely would be open to changing