With a new school year comes a new classes, new students, and a new mascot. Flyers advertising the position were posted around the campus during the first week of the 2017-2018 school year.

Out of the six well rounded students that auditioned, one was chosen to represent the school. The position as mascot is supposed to be anonymous, leaving the entire school to wonder who it is.

“Rules of mascoting is anonymity and secretive,” said Darrell Hudson,a world history teacher at OHS.

Meaning, keeping the mascot’s identity a secret allows the world to only see the character they play, not the person inside the suit. This ambiguity is a staple in most mascots, not just a unique feature to the O’Connor Eagle.

According to Mr. Hudson, who oversaw auditions, a student who wanted to try out had to have good grades, no disciplinary issues, and be in overall good standing in the school. In total only six O’Connor students auditioned, and eventually one was chosen as the mascot after brief deliberation.

Even though only one student was awarded the coveted position of mascot, everyone who auditioned was still invited to be a part of the Talon Crew.The Talon Crew is in charge of helping with the mascot costume, keeping the mascot safe while in crowds, and keeping the crowd energized.

“They pretty much get to go anywhere I go,” said the mascot.

The mascot revealed that there are two people who wear the suit; when one cannot make an event or game, the other fills in. They also added that the hardest part of the job is, “Can’t be afraid of sweat.” This due to the fact that the mascot is required to be in the suit for hours in both indoor and outdoor conditions.

A driving factor for our mascot to audition was wanting to be more involved in the headlining sports, such as football.

“I saw the posters and thought it would be a good way to be a part of a more involved sport” said the mascot.

Though they are anonymous, they are a part of the O’Connor high school spirit. The mascot attends all home sporting events, and the Talon Crew has hopes that it will eventually expand allowing the mascot to be at more events.