On October 23rd, RPS 205 freshmen went on a field trip that could impact their future and their career choice. Inside of Sportscore One, a convention was held with a bunch of booths containing dozens upon dozens of career choices. Volunteers were also at each booth to help talk freshmen through what careers they might be interested in. 

   Many booths had hands-on activities to help demonstrate how certain careers work. Several representatives at these booths also went out of their way to do unusual and extraordinary things, such as firemen bringing in a fire truck or representatives handing out candy or survival pens with built-in flashlights and compasses. 

   “I feel that this field trip is a very important experience to freshmen,” said freshman principal Mr. Amish Shah. “They deserve to be able to look at and engage in careers that they are interested in.”

   During the event, the students were required to walk around different areas of Sportscore One. Each area consisted of careers from one of the four academies: Production, Service, Business, and Health. At the end of the first semester, freshmen will choose one academy and take classes related to those careers for the rest of high school. Each academy had careers relating to what they were about, such as Health consisting of careers in dentistry or nursing. 

   “I had a pleasant experience at the Expo,” said freshman Omar Valdez. “I loved the diversity of careers to choose from and the fact that I learned something from the experience.”

   Although some students enjoyed the opportunity to visit booths from all of the academies, others disliked being forced to visit academies they had no interest in.

   “If you are still deciding on what you want to do as a career, then it’s important to go to all of the academies,” said freshman Jarreht Versendaal, “but if you are interested in only one academy, then you should not be forced into going to a different one.”

   The freshmen class was dispersed into two different groups: Silver and Blue. The Silver group went first thing in the morning and came back during the afternoon, and then the Blue group was sent to the convention. During the period when each group was not at the convention, they each did activities that were supposed to help them with their career choices. 

   “I wish that we had more time at the Expo instead of doing those activities,” said freshman Ella Hill. “We should have used that extra time to visit careers and academies that we were interested in instead.”