Class of ‘22: Not one normal year
The sun will always rise in the morning
Joshua Hoehne / Unsplash
You are a rising freshman. The year: 2018. Time to live our own High School Musicals. Then tragedy hits Oak Park.
It first starts with a shooting at the local Borderline Bar & Grill. Just when some students and faculty are hearing and mourning the news, they walk outside class the following day to see an orange sky and smell burning smoke fill the air. Nov. 8, 2018 marks the start of the Woolsey Fire, which burns 96,949 acres and impacts 1,634 homes.
As the smoke clears, sophomore year begins. A climate of dry and hot wind brings another fire season to Oak Park, but that becomes forgotten as the COVID-19 virus spreads across the world. We rejoiced on the ominous Friday, March 13, 2020, thinking we were getting a two-week break from school.
The alarm rings for junior year as you roll out of bed and log onto your first period via Google Meet. After experiencing a nationwide awakening to the racial injustice in America from the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black individuals, you spend the whole school year isolated. The only contact with your friends and teachers is through a screen that reflects your passive gaze.
Finally, the school bell rings for in-person learning. We adjust to seeing peers and teachers face-to-face, as opposed to in a tiny Google Meet box. And now we adjust to a voluntary mask mandate, coupled with other loosening restrictions surrounding COVID-19 policy. We joke about how a 2-week break turned into a 2-year one and look forward to college and beyond.
The point is, Class of 2022, every year we have suffered through some kind of hardship, many of them seeming like the end of all things good. But through every hardship, we also persevered and adapted to make those endings new beginnings. We hope that as the sun sets on the severity of the pandemic and our senior year, we will all find those new sunrises in our lives.
Here are some of the biggest stories in the past four years:
2018-2019 School Year
August
Man threatens violence against OPUSD
September
Homecoming fireworks replaced with new pyrotechnics
JD Slajchert continues Luc Bodden’s legacy
October
“The Dining Room” cast dishes out laughs
Campus break-in by local teens
Record 750 students attend this year’s homecoming
Vintage plane hits center divider on 101 freeway
Change in graduation uniform colors
November
Students lose homes in Woolsey fire
Oak Park mourns the loss of those killed at Borderline Bar & Grill shooting
January
Cheer places third at first CIF competition
First ever debate tournament held at Oak Park High School
February
Girls’ varsity makes it to CIF finals and State
Third Life Skills retreat canceled
MCMS students battered by group of teenagers
Ventura County students represent CA
Beach volleyball becomes official school sport
Westboro Baptist Church preaches outside of Thousand Oaks High School
March
Oak Park Debate sweeps state qualifiers
Mock Trial wins big at competition
Girls’ volleyball coach removed from position
April
Television series based on Oak Park premieres soon
Science Olympiad wins second place at regional tournament
May
Water Assassins stopped after incidents that impact students, community
Debate team at state tournament
Boys’ golf wins CIF Central Coast Championships
Boys’ volleyball wins state playoffs
2019-2020 School Year
September
Vandalism in the women’s restroom
Student Square set in place for the new school year
1-to-1 Chromebook program implemented at OPUSD
Varsity football holds undefeated record
New science teacher arrives at Oak Park High School
Jessica Wall joins OPHS faculty
Construction begins for healing garden in Thousand Oaks
OPUSD holds parent meeting on new elementary school ‘Gender Diversity’ lessons
Natalie Smith joins staff as Assistant Principal
October
Parents receive notification of serious incident involving an Oak Park resident
Science department embeds sustainability concepts into class lessons
Oak Park schools close due to wildfire risks
November
“Mamma Mia!” debuts as OPHS fall musical
Oak Park mother accused of felony offenses
Girls golf in the running to be league champions
Marching band competes at Royal Classic
December
Under the Sea Homecoming Dance, ASB sells out
OPUSD plants roots for remembrance
Marching Band at regional championships
Girl’s Golf Makes It to CIF Championships for Individual and Team
January
February
Benioff leaving Medea creek after 13 years
New senior retreat attracts 80 plus seniors
Rocket Club Prepares a Rocket for NASA
Cook and Kinberg create new classes
March
Man attempts to abduct teenage girl in Oak Park
April
Schools to remain closed through the remainder of the school year
Spring musical “Chicago” canceled
May
OPUSD Assistant Superintendent Heilbron retires
Physics and engineering teacher Ken Jones to retire
Distance learning implemented in OPUSD schools
International students return home
2020-2021 School Year
September
Bomb threat sent to OPUSD elementary schools
Diversity and Equity Task Force created by OPUSD
Profile: New physics and engineering teacher, Austin Lippincott rrrrr
Remembering Nicholas Mark Fahn
October
Ventura County moves to state’s red tier
OPUSD board approves plan to return to on-campus instruction in a hybrid model
OPIS enrollment nearly doubles for the 2020-21 school year
OPUSD Superintendent Dr. Tony Knight announces retirement
November
Hundreds of pounds of food donated by students, parents and teachers
Increase in COVID-19 cases force Ventura County into the purple tier
December
OPUSD begins search for new superintendent
Coalition of teachers speak against recent MOU
January
Two new classes approved for seniors in 2022
March
New principal of Medea Creek Middle School appointed
Chinese teacher Sherry Hung announces retirement
Debate members move on to compete at state tournament
OPHS students to return to school 4 days per week
April
New Superintendent approved by Board
May
Varsity boys’ soccer team makes it to CIF playoffs
Knight says goodbye to Oak Park Unified School District
2021-2022 School Year
August
First football game ends in resounding victory
October
New Principal Mathew McClenahan joins OPHS
November
Please spell “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”
December
Connect periods transition to activity lessons
Substitute teachers in short supply
“Rocketry and Aerodynamic Design” transitions into an eighth-period class
February
Mrs. Bray’s husband makes history at the Academy Awards
March
Indoor masking becomes voluntary starting March 12
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Oliver Carter is the Editor-in-Chief of the Talon, alongside Editor-in-Chief Lucy Heine-Van Fossen and Magazine Editor-in-Chief Mina Jung. He joined the...
Lucy Anne Heine-Van Fossen is the co-Editor-in-Chief for the 2021-2022 school year. Heine-Van Fossen joined the Talon in the 2018-2019 school year as a...
Mina Jung is serving as the Co-Editor-in-Chief for the 2021-2022 school year. She joined the Talon in the 2018-2019 school year as a Staff Writer, became...
