The annual RBHS Course Fair will occur Jan. 27 from 5:30-9:00 p.m. The fair is targeted toward eighth graders and current RBHS students looking for high school class advice for the upcoming year. Teachers and students will set up and run approximately 40 informational tables throughout the cafeteria. Social studies department co-chair Austin Reed will represent his section at the fair.

“I help coordinate all of our studies classes ⁠— we try to consider what classes need to be there,” Reed said. “We really try to anticipate what type of questions students and parents are going to ask.”

The event is designed to help students find out more information about specific classes and schedules. For example, they might ask about the expectations and content of honors and Advanced Placement (AP) classes.

“Once I found out about the Course Fair from counselors that visited our eighth grade social studies classrooms, I thought it would be a great way to get informed about what classes I would be taking my freshman year,” Savy Nistala, a current Gentry Middle School (GMS) student, said. “Especially with the honors and upper level math classes that I have written down on my course request form, I knew it would be a good opportunity to learn more about them based on what I have heard from teachers and my friends that are currently in high school.”

Students may also have questions about elective classes since middle schools offer a limited selection of them. Pedro Kfuri, an eighth grader who also attends GMS, plans to take Spanish 2, French 1 and German 1.

“Since [Columbia Public Schools] offers so many languages, I decided to take advantage,” Kfuri said. “I am planning on visiting all of my primary requests and asking those teachers about an overall description of the course, the rigor of the course and lastly, the time commitment said course requires.”

Some of the common questions middle schoolers and their parents ask are about classes geared toward freshmen. Reed said people tend to ask him about the block class Civics Studies.

Reed said he will also have a Civics presentation at 5:45 and 6:15 p.m. in rooms 206 and 207 during the fair for students and parents who have additional questions.

In addition to core classes, courses such as Yearbook will have tables, too. The table is student-run, junior Ellie Barnett said. Barnett is the Design and Social Media Editor for the Yearbook class, and she said she thinks most people will ask about the time commitment since her class involves work outside of school.

“Some advice I’d give [to] people wanting to join us that they have to be willing to put forth a lot of time and work,” Barnett said. “How much effort we put in is how good the book will look in the end.”

The Course Fair provides an opportunity for RBHS students, incoming or current, to consider their schedules and find classes right for their work ethic and academic goals. Teachers just want to make sure students aren’t burdened with multiple tough courses and have a balanced workload, Reed said.

“It’s an awesome night. I’ll just say that, from my point of view, what we’re trying to do is offer service,” Reed said. “We want to help kids choose their schedule wisely. I think there’s a lot of misconceptions out there. So anything we can do to clear the air about what this class is, what the expectations are, is helpful for students, so it’s good to offer the service to them.”

Have you ever attended the Course Fair? Let us know in the comments below.