As we begin 2019, it’s important to take a look back at our past. Here were some of the biggest events for Oakton students and staff from school renovations to YouTube videos.

Welcome to Cougar Towne

To start off 2018, students and teachers were welcomed back from winter break with a new addition to the school, Cougar Towne. Cougar Towne emerged over the tennis courts to inhabit many new classes for the rest of the academic year and several more to come. These forty-four “learning cottages” would serve as temporary classrooms during the renovations.

Students Participate in the Women’s March

Some students took the opportunity to participate in the 2018 Women’s March on Jan. 20. The marches took place all over the country, most notably in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and D.C, where most students who participated went.  

School walkout for Parkland

On April 20, 2018 was the nineteenth anniversary of the mass shooting at Columbine High School, and students walked out of class in protest of gun violence. Oakton Leadership led the rallying students up cougar path to the football field where the names of the seventeen victims of the Parkland mass shooting were read aloud followed by a moment of silence.

Culture Festival

Singing, dancing, music and more from all around the world were presented at the annual Cultural Festival. Students gathered in the auditorium to watch their peers perform their amazing talents reflecting their own heritage and culture.

Titanic: The Musical

The Theatre Department put on an incredible production of Titanic: the Musical in May. The show had an amazing cast with jaw-dropping effects. The show won 2 awards at The Cappies; best orchestration and best special effects.

A New Principal

This year, Mrs. Lane took on the role of principal at Oakton, taking over for Mr. Meier, who served as interim principal. Ms. Lane has done a great job so far and students and staff cannot wait to see what the future holds for her and our school!

Surrounded by Construction

When students returned in the fall, some major changes had taken place to the school, in regards to the renovations. The old library and main office had been knocked down; the outside cafeteria seating and health rooms were being reconstructed; and most notably, the hallway ceiling panels had seemingly vanished. Throughout the first semester, structures for the new building have begun, construction on the baseball fields have taken off, some dry walls have appeared around the school, and “the box” has made its way around the cafeteria.

Updated Schedule

Another change for students in the fall was the exchange of 3rd and 4th period. During the 2017-18 school year, 3rd period was the class students had every day and 4th was Cougar Time or advisory. However, this academic year, the two classes swapped places having Cougar Time/advisory earlier in the day.

Homecoming

Students gathered in the main gym for a night themed Around the World to dance with friends. Decorations had been much improved upon from the previous year even though they had less time to plan as the dance was about a month earlier than 2017’s homecoming dance.

Regulated Bathroom Trips

In December, a new bathroom policy took place replacing the teachers’ own unique passes with school-wide standard passes and began seriously enforcing the fifteen-fifteen rule, in which students should remain in class for the first and last fifteen minutes of each period. This change was rumored to be brought on due to students misbehaving and skipping class.

Youtube Rewind

Finally, the students finished out the year discussing the 2018 YouTube Rewind. Within 6 weeks, the video had received 15 million dislikes, winning the spot for Most Disliked YouTube Video passing Justin Bieber’s “Baby” which had received 10 million dislikes over the span of about 9 years.