Something new to Oakton High School this year are the meetings for each grade level during Cougar Time. The first meetings took place in the Oakton high school auditorium. They generally included changes to school policy, along with any announcements, with information being based on what was pertinent to the grade level. For example, in the junior grade level meeting they announced that the county would pay for the pre-SAT for 11th graders, which previously students had to pay for.

Despite only one meeting per grade level taking place so far, many Oakton students have already formed opinions on them. Are they a good way to spread information to the students, or are they a waste of a perfectly good Cougar Time? Let’s see what the students have to say!

Of the 43 students that were polled, 34 students responded that the meetings for each grade level during Cougar Time were a good idea and a good way to get information out to the population, which equates to roughly 75% of the students polled supporting the meetings with each grade level during Cougar Time. 

However, 3 students of the 43 polled for this article, or about 7% of the polled students did not like the grade level meetings during Cougar Time. The last 6 students, or about 15% either are currently undecided or were absent on the day for their Cougar Time grade level meeting.

In conclusion, it seems that the Oakton population is generally supportive of the grade level Cougar Time meetings.They are a good way to get information out to students, and a good way to personalize it to each grade level, as many things are only relevant to one or two grade levels. We will just have to wait and see what information future grade level Cougar Time meetings hold.