By: Andrew Atkins, Editor in Chief of the 2015-2016 Journalism year

The 2015-2016 school year was a phenomenal way to cap off the Class of 2016’s four years in high school. There was plenty of entertainment, a new Fall Carnival, big snowstorms, a dryer fire, playoff sports runs, a new Spring Fling, and many more unique experiences. It was certainly a year to remember. And now as our final days at The Mill wind down, we can take a look back at the best moments that capped off our four years of high school.

When school resumed in August 2015, we began our last year as Scorpions. The year started off with a bang as the OM football and boys soccer teams raced to be among the upper echelon of county teams. On homecoming weekend, the football team took down River Hill and won 48-27 to improve to 5-2 on the year.

The SGA also began a new tradition for the community of Oakland Mills. After spirit week had concluded instead of the usual parade before the soccer game on Saturday of homecoming, a fall carnival was orchestrated right before the football game. This carnival included a booth from each class and then several other fun activities at which the community could spend the evening.

The week following homecoming consisted of the fall play: “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” This was theater teacher Mr. Andrew Barker’s first show at Oakland Mills.

As the weather cooled down, the boys soccer and football teams got hotter. The football team closed out the regular season undefeated in the final four games, before being eliminated by Walkersville in the first round of the playoffs.

After defeating the Walkersville boys soccer team 3-1 in the first round of the playoffs, the Scorpion boys defeated Marriotts Ridge in PKs in the second round. This thrilling game was won after the two squads finished regulation tied 1-1. The boys ultimately fell to Century 1-0 in the third round.

While winter was quickly approaching, snow did not show up in the end of 2015. The students of OM were met with a fairly moderate winter. In fact it did not even get abnormally cold until the new year. The winter of 2016 brought across eight snow days due in great part to “Snowpocalypse 2016” taking out a week of classes. These long awaited days off wreaked havoc in the second and third marking periods – practically giving students a second winter break.

The winter season also brought about band, chorus, and orchestra concerts, as well as playoff runs for the  the winter sports teams. The girls’ basketball team won their first playoff game 58-42 (at Century) before falling to Liberty (59-48) in the second round. The boys’ basketball team advanced to yet another regional final playoff game, before losing a thrilling game against Middletown, 59-58.

The spring brought about a lot of change and unusual events at The Mill. Spring sports began with much less rain than usual, and every Scorpion program started off winning early. April 18th was a particularly good day to be a Scorpion, for Varsity baseball (12-0) and softball (17-7) took down Wilde Lake, and girls lacrosse (9-8) defeated Lansdowne, all at home. Varsity softball additionally beat Annapolis twenty to one a few weeks prior. Varsity baseball continued with the spring sports resurgence in defeating Franklin (7-4) and Centennial (12-4).

Boys lacrosse led the charge this spring going on to finish 8-7 in a re-arranged county format. This included clutch wins versus Hammond (8-6) and Wilde Lake (11-0).

In the midst of this spring sports season, the upperclassmen of Oakland Mills had the prom to look forward to. The 2016 Prom was located at historic Savage Mill on April 30th. After a fun night of food, dancing, and hanging out with friends, many of the students attended the PTSA sponsored after-prom event at the North Laurel Community Center.

The last main event for seniors prior to the awards assembly was Class Night. Class Night was held on May 19th on a boat in Baltimore.

So now with graduation looming on June 1st, it sort of feels like our time has flown by at Oakland Mills. Despite only four years in the building, we have helped orchestrate a new era at The Mill. We have turned nearly every school program around (or maintained it at a high level), welcomed Dr. Shortridge’s era to our community, and developed a new technologically-minded age. When Oakland Mills is looked on in a positive light for many years to come, the change can be traced back to our time in this community. As we go our separate ways now, always remember the time that you spent at OM.