Team SCREAM Captain Morgan Withers, right, shares information about the team during the Club Expo.

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The goal was simple but meaningful: Connect Smith-Cotton High students with something they care about. On Tuesday, that mission was carried out across the entire student body through the Club Expo.

At the start of the school year, junior Sarah Slagle approached teacher Alicia Maggert, Queen City CAPS Program communications coordinator, and expressed her desire to make a Club Expo her CAPS project.

“She knows that there is a place for everyone here at S-C and she wants people to know how to get involved,” Maggert said. “When we started imagining, we knew we wanted it to be totally different from the typical activities fair with tables lined up in the Commons. We want all students to know what is going on in our building. We asked club leaders to lead sessions that are fun, engaging, informative and interactive. This has been an amazing day!”

Students heard directly from students about how groups such as Educators Rising, Envirothon and Smith-Cotton Unified Foreign Language (SCUFL) helped them build skills and connect with likeminded students. They learned about sports, cheerleading, the High Voltage dance team and SPIZ, the student fan section. Career and Technology Center students discussed the value of those education options. There also was a “Success in Sedalia” panel discussion where local business leaders shared local occupational opportunities, what employers are looking for in job candidates and challenges the panelists faced on their varied roads to success.

Slagle said the Club Expo reflects what she is passionate about — helping others succeed.

“My goal with this project was to showcase the opportunities available to students in hopes that they’ll discover a passion that inspires them to thrive both in and beyond high school,” Slagle said.

Maggert also praised senior Jordan Hoover, who wrote a script behind the Club Expo form that was almost 1,000 lines long.

“There is almost no one else in this building that could have made this happen,” Maggert said. “Jordan has been phenomenal in fixing errors and making this a reality. Over 1,000 schedules were generated from this script and each student got an email with their schedule. This was an amazing feat!”

Hoover shared Slagle’s views on the importance of the Club Expo, saying, “It allowed me to grow in my skills of software as well as giving others a greater opportunity to find something they enjoy.”

As students rotated between sessions they had selected, Maggert expressed her pride in the student-generated event.

“The teachers and club leaders got on board and have had great sessions today,” she said. “What a great day to be a tiger!”