HackFREE 2025
On January 18th, the Freehold Regional High School District hosted HackFREE 2025, the seventh annual hackathon celebrating creativity, innovation, and collaboration in STEM. This year’s event united almost 200 students, educators, and STEM enthusiasts for an inspiring day of exploration, learning, and hands-on problem-solving.
The 501st Legion welcomed students at registration in stunning Star Wars costumes, creating excitement and unforgettable photo opportunities. The event featured a variety of workshops and mini-events designed to inspire and educate. Students participated in bootcamp sessions on web and app development, neural networks, and programming Raspberry Pi with Python.
During the Design Thinking Challenge, students embraced the opportunity to offer incredible solutions to the given problem. Other standout sessions included Rubik’s cube-solving strategies, Onshape CAD design, astronomy, and a Q&A session with S&E alumni. Engaging workshops and skill-building challenges catered to students of all experience levels. A robotics scrimmage with FTC teams TranSisters, OuterGalaxy, and Brave Robotics highlighted teamwork and hands-on learning, while a demo robot provided by OuterGalaxy captivated our younger visitors.
With 34 dynamic projects presented, HackFREE 2025 highlighted how young minds tackle real-world challenges using technology and teamwork. Several projects earned recognition for their innovation, technical execution, and potential impact. The Synergy Award for best teamwork highlighted outstanding collaboration, with one team from Manalapan High School developing Prism, a website to help individuals, particularly those with autism, manage overstimulation, stress, and anxiety in various settings. Another team from Freehold Township High School created The Interval, a system for optimizing music selection in group settings through structured voting.
Six exceptional projects received Hacks of Distinction Awards. These included a parking lot analyzer for identifying available spaces, a fitness app for runners, gaze-tracking technology for improved computer accessibility, and ScholarVerse, which reimagined the scholarship search process by combining AI mentors, gamification, and AR/VR technology.
The Cosmic Compass project, completed by a team from Freehold High School, won the special Revolutionizing Scholarship Research Award for gamifying the overwhelming scholarship discovery process into an engaging, AI-driven adventure.
HackFREE 2025 would not have been possible without the generous support of our partners and sponsors: CommVault, Jersey Shore STEM Ecosystem, Collemi Consulting & Advisory Services, LLC, Freehold Regional Education Association, Braves Booster Club, Manalapan School Store, Wegmans, Balloonacy, InfoAge Science and History Museum, and Product Teacher. The event also welcomed industry professionals from Lockheed Martin, AT&T, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Stevens Institute of Technology, Bell Labs, IEEE, Bank of America, UBS, BLX.io, Novartis Pharmaceutical, AdvanSix, and Deutsche Bank, whose mentorship and support during the judging process highlighted the value of community engagement in creating meaningful opportunities for students.
A heartfelt thank-you goes to all our partners, sponsors, school staff, parent volunteers, industry mentors, judges, and the students of FRHSD, whose collaborative efforts fostered an inspiring environment for learning and growth.
Participants left the event with invaluable lessons and renewed excitement for STEM. Teams shared reflections on their experiences.
One student remarked, “Balancing complex technologies with user-friendly design is key, and gamification really boosts user motivation and engagement.” Another said, “Through this project, we deepened our understanding of encryption protocols and how to integrate dynamic group settings using WebSockets. It was a great challenge and an even better learning experience.”
Another participant reflected, “Teamwork is only possible if there is communication. Without communication, we struggled as it was hard to come up with one idea to work on.”
Younger participants were equally inspired. Mrs. Joworisak, a guidance counselor from Colts Neck High School visiting with her children shared, “I was amazed by the students' work, and my kids left feeling so inspired. Arianna and Ethan’s Rubik’s Cube presentation was incredible. My kids have been practicing all weekend, and Arianna’s story as a female in STEM really resonated with my daughter. It was refreshing to see such passion in action.”
HackFREE 2025 highlighted the transformative power of providing students with opportunities and support. It showcased how collaboration between students, educators, industry professionals, and local organizations can create impactful experiences that inspire the next generation of STEM innovators and leaders.
