Courtesy of Ethan Tawn
On Oct. 25, Aragon hosted its annual Expo Night, starting in the theater and later in the North Gym to showcase Aragon’s academics, athletics, the arts and more to prospective students.
“Expo Night [presents] the different opportunities that we have at Aragon, including all of our departments, the curriculum that is offered here and our parent organizations,” said Alejandra Cheever, Spanish teacher and co-chair of the world language department.
The Expo was hosted in two sessions, with the first session spanning from 6:30-7:15 p.m., and the second from 7:30-8:15 p.m. Both sessions started with a presentation from assistant principal Andrew Hartig, covering important qualities of Aragon, such as the CARES values. Next, attendees watched a video featuring all departments at Aragon and their co-chairs, which showcased classes and other programs like music, art and athletics at Aragon.
In addition, many of Aragon’s performing groups were featured in the presentation. With an opening word from John Chen, director of orchestras and choirs, Aragon Chamber Singers performed “White Winter Hymnal” by the a cappella group Pentatonix. The cast of Aragon’s winter musical “Grease the Musical” then performed the song “We Go Together” as a small teaser for the upcoming show.
Afterward, potential students and families gathered in the North Gym. Each department had its own table, with the co-chairs present to answer any questions. Some of the most-visited tables included the math and world language departments.
“The question we get asked the most is what language level the student should sign up for coming into ninth as an eighth grader, and so we have different information about the courses we offer,” Cheever said. “We have a lot of conversations with the student’s parents about their experience with one of our languages and determine what might be the best fit for them.”
Many of the tables also provided copies of textbooks to flip through and flyers to take home as further resources for the rising freshmen.
Programs such as Advancement Via Individual Determination were also present at the Expo.
“[We’re here] to promote the program and provide more information to parents who wouln’t normally get this informtion,” said AVID and English teacher Tiffany Chiaro. “Because AVID is not at every middle school, for some, this is their first time hearing about the program.”
Parent and booster groups were represented as well, including the Aragon Tri-M Music Honor Society.
“We’re trying to promote our music program,” said senior and Tri-M president Mia Weinberger. “We have some students here to talk to parents and incoming students to help them get a feel of what the program is like.”
Aragon’s academic and music departments weren’t the only ones exhibited on Expo Night. Prospective students and families also has the opportunity to interact with other student groups like Aragon Robotics.
“[Expo Night] is one of our ways of being able to meet new eighth graders or incoming freshmen early, [and] give them an idea of what Aragon Robotics is like,” said junior and Aragon Robotics member Anish Dara. “For those who have never heard about it before, this is like a first glimpse to showcase all our different teams, to showcase our robots and get new members interested.”
Aragon is planning on hosting Expo Night again next year.
