First Cougar Kickoff a Success

With a little less than a week before the start of school, welcomed its students, parents and community back a little early with a day of fun at the first Cougar Kickoff on Thursday.

“It’s been amazing,” said incoming freshman Renata Hurtado. “It’s really fun, nice weather and I’m seeing a lot of people who I haven’t seen all summer.”

As student bands played music on the tennis courts, hundreds of incoming and returning Oakton students were able to meet up with friends, buy spirit wear, join clubs and play games.

“A lot of schools put this together and we wanted to do something that was a big community event for Oakton students, staff and our community, whether they have students or not,” said Pat Full, director of student activities. “It was a great turnout for the first one, and our goal is next year to be even bigger and then get bigger from there.”

Earlier in the day, students participated in freshman orientation, schedule pick-up and form collections, so they were already at the high school when the fun began.

“We had a large percentage of students who came out this evening,” Full said. “I would say we had two-thirds of the students come and their parents and families filtering through.”

Inside the school and around the pathway, the Student Government Association provided a variety games and activities, including a carnival, food vendors and a car wash to raise money for the club.

“It was really a matter of getting information out to the public and giving them the chance to see a lot of what the kids do, talk to the kids and make some money for the different groups so they could make some money to start the year,” said Sean Greeney, the Student Government coordinator and an astronomy teacher at the school. “I was surprised at the turnout; it was a lot bigger than I expected.”

Over at the table for the Octagon Club, the school’s community service organization, a host of people were learning what the club had to offer.

“We have signed up a ton of members today. It’s been really banging with a lot of people,” said senior Michael Filipponi, representing the club. “This is a service club that looks great on your college application. We meet twice a month to talk about volunteer activities and once a month we do an activity like cleaning up a highway.”

The booster clubs, PTA, PSTA and other tables were also packed with parents and students signing up. Others were buying things to get ready for the school year.

“We opened up our school store and offered up the opportunity for them to buy some of the things they need like gym uniforms and spirit gear,” Full said. “This makes the process a lot easier.”

The sports fields were lined with fun for the little ones, as a bouncy house, bouncy slide and oversized boxing ring were set up, and nearby, students who play in rock bands were performing.

“Being that it’s a community event, we thought it would be great to have student bands playing so people could hear music as people came in and we had the big inflatables set up so parents could keep their younger kids busy while they were waiting in lines to sign up for things,” Greeney said. “We had food sales and fundraisers for the different activities and sports at Oakton.”

All who attended also received free entry into the freshman and junior varsity football games, with the older Cougars pulling out a win over rival Madison.

“This put everyone in the mood for the Outback Bowl which plays here Friday night as our varsity team plays its first game of the season,” Full said. “It’s going to be a great game as well.”