Getting younger students excited about attending Oak Harbor High School wasn’t difficult with bubbling beakers, gourmet clam chowder, choir concerts and a chance to be on Wildcat TV.

Elementary and middle school students celebrated what Oak Harbor High School has to offer Nov. 2  at Festival: Oak Harbor Schools.

The purpose was to get younger students excited about what the high school has to offer besides the typical reading, writing and math education.

“The school is new and wonderful and offers so many opportunities but there are a lot of kids and parents who haven’t had the chance to see it yet,” said Joe Hunt, school district communications director.

Approximately 2,000 students and parents turned out to see what the high school has to offer, Hunt said.

Students were free to tour the auto, wood and metal shops and art classrooms, record a greeting to be played on Wildcat TV and wander the halls of the school they could be spending their high school years at.

With an athletic challenge, cheerleading workshops and a carnival by the Key Club, the evening blended fun with education.

More than 350 students from the elementary schools, the Broad View Elementary School Flag Troupe and the Oak Harbor High School Show Choir performed.

Culinary class members cooked hors d’oeuvres and desserts and welcomed families into their professional-grade kitchen.

“I really like to cook at home. So two hours of cooking a day at school seemed like a done deal,” said 11th-grade student Katie Brockway about the culinary class as she served clam chowder, sushi and fancy brownies to families. She plans to become a pastry chef and the culinary class at the high school will help her achieve that.

In the chemistry lab, high school students demonstrated dry ice experiments. Younger students crowded around as 11th-grade student David Kusnick made huge dry ice bubbles using a vacuum tube.

“I’m impressed with the high school just from seeing this experiment,” exclaimed 10-year-old Nelonnie Quichocho. She said she’s especially looking forward to doing art in high school.

A kindergarten through 12th-grade student art show was on display in the library. Eighth-grade student Aaliyah Lyons said she’s looking forward to taking art classes next year at the high school, especially drawing. She said she’s also looking forward to opportunities like taking Spanish.

Ninth-grade student Katie Blynton said her favorite part about high school is “all the experiences we get to try out. There’s so many new things to do. It’s awesome we get so many choices, like metal design, pottery and culinary.”

Blynton plans to eventually join a drawing or pottery class but she advises future students that it’s most important to work toward graduating.

“You should work on achieving to get your credits so you can pass. Getting your credits is most important. And have fun because high school is going to be a great experience and you don’t want to miss out on all the fun things they have to offer,” Blynton said.

“It’s definitely pretty hard so you’ve got to be prepared to work. But it’s pretty fun if you get the right classes you want to do,” said Kusnick, whose favorite class is AP chemistry.

“There was a lot of interest from students who came in and said, ‘Wow, I’m going to take this class,’ teachers said. If kids came in and saw a piece of their future, then this succeeded,” Hunt said.