About 2,000 area high school freshmen made their way through Alignment Rockford’s annual Academy Expo, held at the Indoor Sports Center at Mercyhealth Sportscore.

The expo, which is in its seventh year, is set up to help students identify careers that interest them. Their next steps will be selecting high school academies that align with their interests. They will add job-related experiences, such as job-shadowing and internships as they work toward their high school graduations and future employment.