Gallery • 9 Photos

Melanie Pedersen

Students enter the ice skating rink.

The Student Government Association (SGA) hosted its winter event on Feb. 9 at the Cooper River Ice Skating Rink from 7-9 p.m. Tickets were sold for $15 online and at the door, covering the cost of entry and ice skate rentals. This event was open to the community, not exclusively for Cherry Hill High School East students. 

The event was originally scheduled for the night Jan. 20, however it was postponed due to the low temperatures around 16 degrees Fahrenheit. The new date featured slightly higher temperatures of around 24 degrees Fahrenheit. Students who bought tickets for the original date were offered refunds for their tickets if they were unable to attend at the rescheduled time. The proceeds from this event will go straight to the New Jersey Association of Student Councils (NJASC) State-Wide Charity – Crisis Response Canines.

Leading up to this fundraiser, SGA informed students of the event through social media posts and promoted it further by visiting homerooms during lunch to encourage student attendance. 

The event was mainly held inside a tent with heating to keep the attendees warm while they rented their skates, talked with their friends, and ate concessions.

According to Amber Lanci (‘27), one of the attendees, noted that the cold weather did not interfere with the event and opportunities involved. Lanci said that it wasn’t that cold out, since when you were outside, you were moving around, and when you were inside, there was heating.

Most of the attendees spent the time ice skating on the rink, taking advantage of the free skate rentals. There were approximately 40 people on the rink at one given time, with the most at around 7:30 p.m., when 60 people filled the rink, when everyone had arrived and put their skates on.

When the attendees weren’t skating, they were inside the tent chatting with friends over food. SGA offered hot dogs for $3.75, french fries for $4.75, and water for $3, which were their most purchased items. Outside of the tent, there were also bonfires set up to help the attendees to stay warm. They offered s’mores kits for $6.75, but none of the attendees ended up making s’mores, rather choosing to stay inside the tent. 

Anna Bardunias (‘26), the schoolwide SGA president and main organizer of this event, considers the ice skating experience to be a success. Collectively, the event gathered nearly 100 online ticket sales and met their goal after some tickets were bought at the door. 

Overall, Bardunias is proud of the outcome of this event, and was happy to see the East community for a fun, winter activity in the midst of a cold winter season.  

“People had a lot of fun, there was minimal falling on the ice, and everyone was able to stay warm inside the tent,” said Bardunias.