With the 2021-22 school year coming to an end, new freshmen will be entering high school next year.

On Wednesday, Jan. 26 the De Soto school district hosted a career and classes expo at the Cedar Trails Exploration Center (CTEC). This event was for middle schoolers at Mill Creek, Monticello Trails and Lexington Trails.

Students from De Soto (DHS)  and Mill Valley (MVHS) attended as well, along with Johnson County Community College, Kansas City Community College, Kansas City STEM alliance and Eudora De Soto Technical.

Students from both high schools representing classes like Journalism, Carpentry, Family and Consumer Science, Yearbook and Robotics club, came to talk about what their classes have to offer. 

Over 500 eighth graders attended the expo, giving the groups of future high school students a chance to explore the programs at DHS and MVHS.

Senior Zack Schwarzenberger talks about what went well with the event.

“I think it went well. It was pretty cool to see high schoolers come in and promote certain classes for kids who are younger,” Schwarzenberger said. “I remember doing something similar when I was that age too.” 

Although some kids showed that they were nervous to talk to current high school students hosting the booths, the kids that did had a great learning experience.

Lexington Trails eighth-grader Wesley Flagor said “It was an interesting experience and I’m thankful I got to learn more about what education tools the high school uses to better our education and hands-on experiences,” Flagor said.

With the event running from eight in the morning to around 12 in the afternoon,  many student leaders were very tired after the long day of work with the future high schoolers.

“Some things that could’ve been improved would maybe be getting the kids more involved,” Schwarzenberger said. “I feel like they saw candy and that’s all they cared about. Maybe there could be something cool that could’ve been added like a game or some trivia questions, something like that.”

 All the attendees thought that the event was both beneficial and helpful to show what kinds of classes both high schools have to offer including senior Gabby Sirabella.

“The field trip for the middle schoolers to the CTEC building seemed to be very beneficial and I loved sharing all the fun classes DHS offers,” Sirabella said.

“One thing I think would help in the future is having a few extra minutes in between the schools arriving and leaving. It got super busy and chaotic at times but was still a very fun experience,” Sirabella said.

Overall everyone that attended agreed that the event was a success. Eighth-grade students learned about what high school has to offer at CTEC and what high school has for them.