This year, 497 Guilford students attended the Freshman Academy Expo at Sportscore 2 on Oct. 20. The annual expo provides freshmen with knowledge of career paths and the academies that those jobs are in.

   Freshmen saw everything ranging from a bomb suit to a live owl. Each table had items for viewing, or interactive models to show the field of work. The tables typically had two or more representatives to talk about the displays and how they relate to their careers.

   “The parts of the Expo that specifically stood out were the health section and the service section,” said Mr. Shah, Freshman Academy principal. “The Police and Fire Department brought their vehicles to show students and let students interact with them. Students really enjoyed learning from the Bomb Squad.”

   At Sportscore, each academy was separated into different sections of the expo. This allowed students to see what types of careers are similar in the same academy, helping them choose which academy to go into for their sophomore year.

   “I think it’s crucial for students to have an experience like the Expo, so they have the opportunity to explore different career options in front of them and start planning for their future,” said Mr. Shah. “If a student is confused about what they want to do after high school, this Expo can start to help them figure out and plan for their future.”

   At the school, teachers gave students a taste of the electives they teach, providing information about the goal of the classes, examples of projects that students enjoy, and the difficulty level of the classes.

   “I do think that the information from the elective teachers was useful,” said William Chen, freshman. “I have business and tech for one of my electives, and we have to learn a lot of stuff like marketing that can be very useful in later dates.”

   All four RPS 205 high schools participated in the expo. Students at each school were divided into two groups to attend either a morning or an afternoon session, which allowed all students to spend approximately one half-hour with each academy.

   “I think the academy expo overall went pretty great,” said Chen. “We got to meet a lot of people with jobs I never knew about.”