About 500 incoming freshmen had a chance to preview what OHS had to offer at Future Freshman Night on Jan. 4 at 6:30 p.m. in the main auditorium.

“I learned a lot about O’Connor and all you can do there,” said incoming freshman Adam Brooks, a student at Hillcrest Middle School.

All the departments had the chance to participate at the event to assist students in determining what classes to take.

“The presentation gets them excited about what they want to study,” said James Walliser, a science teacher. “Hopefully they get an idea of what they want to take in high school.”

For the presen-tations, the science department had their lab coats on but didn’t wear goggles because they “left marks” on their faces. The Math department had a quilt project using equilateral triangles and parallel lines. To make the quilt they made hexagons and colored them by following the directions on a piece of paper.

“A lot of people took instructions [for the quilt] but only one actually took the time to do the worksheet there,” said Pam Bobbitt, a math teacher.

The academic departments compete each year for who is the most creative with their presentations and the winner receives a Fred award from the administration. They call it the Fred award because of a real man in Denver who was recognized for always going above the call of duty. There was a book written about him called The Fred Factor.

“When I notice our staff acting like a Fred I like to reward them with an eagle who we have named Fred,” said Principal Jack Dillard in an e-mail interview.

Fine arts received the award this year. They used live models to highlight different fine arts classes. For example, ceramics students had their bowls with them and choir had their uniforms on.

“They did an outstanding job of representing all of the elements of their departments through live props and costumes,” Dillard said.

Overall, about 700 students and parents attended the event, according to Dillard.

“Student government did an excellent job.” said Willie Carmicle, the ROTC instructor. “It should be done every year and expanded if possible.”