We’ve all heard it. The typical “A mice ran across my foot today!” and “No eating in this classroom, we had mice last year.”. According to the talk of the town, our school is infested with seed-eating rodents that, apparently, double-function as vacuum cleaners. Today, the Oakton Outlook gets to the bottom of the iconic suburban legend; are the mice of Oakton real, or just a figment of our imaginations?

When asked about his mice experiences at Oakton, Joseph Jones (12) immediately took a defensive stance.

“Have you ever seen a mouse crawl into your backpack? Have you!?” he shouted in an accusatory fashion, making it clear that he has undoubtedly had a run-in with mice before. The student who sits across from me in English (11) had something else to say.

“I think teachers made up the mice to stop us from eating in class. Like, I’m hungry, man!” he said. Our peers in the surrounding area hummed in agreement.

The arguments have been made; to some, the mice are just a fabrication of teachers and students with far too much time on their hands. To others, they are a horror all-too-real. Now, it’s up to you to decide. Oakton Mice: fact, or myth?

Satire aside, the concept of mice at Oakton raises another, more intellectual question; is Oakton really in a state to house thousands of students each day, and to serve as a productive learning environment? Everyday, the renovations are impacting students in many ways. Water from exposed pipes dripping on students’ heads, wires dangling down risking shocks. The school is in, undeniably, a state of decay in comparison to other Fairfax schools and the debate of whether or not Oakton is a safe place to be is ongoing.