Welcome Back! Barbecues Bring Families Together to Celebrate New School Year

Now that the dust has settled from the opening two weeks of school, the PTAs at Laurel Plains Elementary and Link Elementary sponsored welcome back barbecues on Monday.

Both events were lively and fun, with both schools having DJs for the first official party of the new school year, among other things.

Laurel Plains was raffling off prizes for their students, ranging from two homework passes to lunch with the principal or their teacher. Along with the DJ, Paul the Magic Clown was on hand to entertain children. Though the kids were having fun, the parents obviously play a big part in these events.

"It's a Welcome Back, and not just for the kids, but for the parents to mingle and get back in the school groove," said Laurel Plains PTA President Diane Hutt.

At Link Elementary, you could sense the fellowship in the air.

"It's about linking the families and the school," Link Elementary School Principal Francine Cuccia said. "And maintaining our sense of community and partnership."

Julissa Viana, co-president of the Link Elementary School PTA, was upbeat about this year's event.

"It's an event the PTA has been doing for five years now, clearly everyone is having a good time. Over 500 families are here and many of them even donated food for the event, so we're very thankful and happy for how everything's going," Diana said. The parents at Link did donate a portion of the food, but local businesses were involved as well.

Rob Priske, owner of Pakula's Pizza, donated pizza. "We're the closest pizza place to Link," Priske said. "Everyone is a familiar face."