Students Discover Electives at the First Annual Upper School Course Expo

December 19, 2023

Students visit the Multimedia booth at the course Expo. The event allowed students to get a better understanding of their future path. Students went around different booths in the gym to explore the varieties of course options they might want to take. In each booth students and teachers were selected to represent their class and talk about it to others.

Students explored their academic interests during the first ever Upper School Course Expo last Friday in the Blue Dungeon.

Freshman, sophomores, and juniors caught a glimpse of the different course options available to them in the next school year.

“I liked seeing all the choices we have in our pockets,” freshman Ayden Gomez said. “There was an elective that I never thought about before that actually seemed pretty interesting. It was a data research class. If they have space available I’ll definitely join.”

The event allowed students to get a better understanding of the academic path they might consider it in the next school years.

“The best part about this is that students have an idea or thought process about what they want to pursue and they’re focused mostly on that. This event gives them an opportunity to see what else is available and maybe discover something they never thought existed,” Director of Colleague Counseling Bernadette Condesso said.

The Course Expo further expedited the process for Upper School Dean of Academics Curriculum Erika Velez to make sure students get their first option elective for next school year.

Students flip through a yearbook, exploring the Multimedia Program. (Eduardo Kingston)

“This is an innovative opportunity to have students engage with the scheduling process which typically starts in January. In the last two years, [the Curriculum Department] made an extreme effort to make sure that we have enough time to spend time with [students] and engage with conversation counselors, students and teachers to make sure we meet 92% of first choice electives,” Velez explained.

Although students like Gomez found the event beneficial, some juniors found it pointless because, according to junior Sofia Ciperski, switching electives during the last year of high school may disrupt the courses they’ve been taking since freshman or sophomore year.

Making for a more entertaining experience, students were provided the opportunity to win raffles and prizes depending on how many booths they visited. Students were able to win these awards by scanning QR codes in each elective stand.

“Every three booth visits, we do a raffle and offer random prizes like water bottles, notepads, and stickers. We hope in the future to have bigger surprises for the students during events like these,” Velez said.