Bright lights lit up the football field as the event organizers blew up inflatables while students enjoyed pizza and snacks with friends.

Once those inflatables were up, students dashed off to enjoy them, laughing as they went head-to-head with their friends at some of the ones that required competition.

Footballs and Frisbees flew through the air as students played games of catch on the stadium field.

These scenes of friendship are what keep students coming back to the annual Back-to-School Bash, which was held on the first Friday of the school year for an entrance cost of $2 a student and occurred right after the scarlet-and-gray, in-team scrimmages of various fall sports, including football.

“What encouraged me to go was last year. Last year I went and had so much fun and decided to go again this year, and I had no regrets,” said Adry Kasemets, sophomore, who also said, “My favorite part of the Back-to-School Bash was getting to spend time with friends and the inflatables.”

This year the Back-to-School Bash featured an inflatables obstacle course for racing friends and another one for jousting with friends and even teachers. Additionally, there was a real-life version of the childhood game Hungry, Hungry Hippos.

Besides the various inflatables, the bash also featured a dunk tank with special guests like math teacher John Cowhey and Principal Dr. Anthony Kroll.

“I really liked the dunk tank. It was fun to be able to dunk your teachers, especially since it didn’t cost anything extra,” Senior Morgan Shurtz said. “I went because a couple of my friends are in the band or were playing in the games. We all stayed after to hang out and get something to eat.”

A food and drink station along with seating was set up in the parking lot between the North Field and the stadium for students to hang out with friends after the football scrimmage was over and before they enjoyed the other activities like the dunk tank and the inflatables.

The Back-to-School Bash is facilitated by Student Leadership, and members of this organization could be spotted working the event to make sure everything ran smoothly.

Jake Garcia, school wide president, said, “I [was] most excited to see everyone that I haven’t seen during summer at the Back-to-School Bash, and ya know, just kick off the school year with a fun event with the inflatables, watching all the teams scrimmage and showing some real Mustang spirit.”