Lexus DeLoach
Video by Josh Brunelli
Staff Photographer

The anticipation of the new school year can be terrifying for anyone. For the future seniors the fear breeds from college applications. The upcoming juniors have standardized testing and a larger workload to worry about. For the incoming freshmen the fear is learning about an entire new school. Coppell High School decided last year to take one more step towards remedying this fear: the eighth grade Expo.

“The Expo is a time for the parents and students to hear the information together about the school, the academies and organizations in the school. They were able to compare pre-AP English and regular English and to get more information to decide if they wanted to come to CHS or New Tech,” freshman office secretary Elizabeth Adkins said.

The Expo served as a chance for the future freshmen to see the school and get a taste of their class choices before registration comes around. Wednesday night the school was filled long past the last bell with academy students, media and club volunteers and Red Jackets anticipating the flood of future students ready to embrace the ups and downs of high school.

“[Eighth graders and parents] can come and learn about the different kinds of programs we have before they actually come here. The way I found out a lot about a lot of them was just by being exposed to them freshman and sophomore year. But by coming here they can learn about them before hand and get a head start on them,” senior Red Jacket Michael Mahalik said.

The commons and hallways were packed with booths advertising everything from cheer to Spanish club, PSA to soccer, everyone anticipating the arrival of the future members of the Coppell High School culture.

Junior Tyler Martinez was working the art booth.

“I really wish they would have had this when I was an eighth grader, it would have really helped me decide what to do in high school,” he said.

Eighth graders timidly tip-toed around the tables as they asked questions to their future peers. One of these students was Coppell Middle School East eighth grader Jordan Barbo. As he walked around with his friends he was especially interested in the sports tables

“It’s helped me get to know my future classes and teachers better,” Barbo said.“The only thing I would change is to include more classes.”