Freehold Regional High School District

Each January, FRHSD hosts an annual hackathon, HackFRee, for all district students. Hosted at Manalapan High School, the hackathon is designed as a creation marathon that provides students the opportunity to engage in inventing, coding, and other engaging activities in an environment that inspires innovation and cultivates a community of modern learners.  

HackFRee, is a 24-hour hackathon where teams of students work towards creating a project using programming or electronics. Hackathons are an interactive way to increase a student’s coding knowledge. HackFRee 2019 saw 250 students from across the district come together. This past year’s event came to fruition thanks to a community partnership with Major League Hacking. Sponsors of the hackathon include OceanFirst Bank, iCIMS, stickermule, and USACS. 

During the course of the 24-hours, students followed a schedule which included workshops and hands-on demonstrations. This past year there were also admissions counselors from New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, and Stockton University on hand to speak with interested students. 

The idea for HackFRee came about after Manalapan High School’s principal and a student leadership team were brainstorming about opportunities for students. The number of student participants continues to increase year after year.