Thursday, March 28, 2024

Cascade High School DECA thriving under teacher and student leadership

Posted

Leavenworth’s Cascade High School DECA students should be proud.
Not only did several of them qualify to attend the highly competitive national competition in Atlanta, Georgia, starting in April, but they did so despite being relative newcomers to DECA.
DECA as a national business student organization has been around for seventy years with 200,000 high school members in chapters around the U.S. as well as abroad. It’s no easy feat for students from this small school to outcompete Seattle area students who know the ins and outs of DECA from decades of participation.
There are several reasons why the Cascade students, led by seniors Ryan Everest and Rylee Jacobson and junior D’Andre Vasquez, have found success. Vasquez credited their main club sponsor, Todd Pehowski, who teaches several business and engineering classes at the high school. “Mr. P. was involved with DECA at Lakes High School [in Lakewood where Pehowski taught previously], so he was instrumental in bringing DECA to Cascade.” In 2016 the school moved away from FBLA, another business organization, because, as Everest said, “DECA provides more opportunities for problem-solving and real world scenarios, whereas FBLA was focused more on general business concepts.”
Competition is a key component of DECA and requires a lot of preparation. Some are impromptu scenarios that the student reads and then must role-play solutions with a judge. “Mr. P. helped us with the vital secret of role-playing in preparation for competition,” said Everest.
Even so, public speaking with professionalism and poise takes awhile to cultivate. Jacobson recalled her first DECA competition in the field of Apparel and Accessories Marketing. “The first time was nerve wracking. But I learned to push those feelings aside so I could keep going.”
Eight Cascade students will attend Nationals. Vasquez will compete in Sports and Entertainment Marketing, Jacobson in Apparel and Accessories Marketing, and Everest, with Isabel Rodriguez and Clare Nelle, will be judged on a group presentation about their Student Based Enterprises. In addition, Anna Russell and Jose Valdez will attend and receive Management and Leadership training.
Hard work and supporting one another has gotten them to this point. Jacobson said, “In the fall I surveyed the DECA members to learn about their interests and help them pick the events in which they would compete.” Everest, Jacobson and Vasquez also mentored their younger classmates in small groups during business class time, after school and when many of them attended a fall DECA Leadership Conference in Arizona.
Pehowski attends the conferences and competitions along with his students. “Mr. P. commits a lot of time to DECA. He’s a real trooper,” said Vasquez.
Beyond competition, DECA has impacted CHS in other ways.
For one, a focus of entrepreneurship has helped students implement improvements to the student-run store. The store began years ago, selling mostly junk food. When national regulations changed, prohibiting the sales of foods high in sugar and salt at schools, the students had to get creative and find new healthier snacks that still appeal to hungry students. In addition, a Cascade Education Foundation (CEF) grant, obtained by Pehowski, enabled DECA to diversify their student-based enterprises to include a custom shirt business, because it covered the printing press and plotter. DECA has made shirts for several school organizations as well as for a local festival. Another offshoot is a photography business. Student photographers took photos at a DECA-sponsored Father/Daughter dance and sold reduced cost senior portraits.
Community service represents another core principle of DECA. Vasquez got the idea at a DECA conference to sell wristbands last winter to help sponsor the education of a 16-year-old student named Ephraim in Zimbabwe. Cascade’s ASB took on the challenge and raised more than $1,600, enough for two year’s of Ephraim’s tuition costs.
DECA has 38 members currently, and with its success, will likely continue to grow. “I hope to see DECA grow next year and make more connections with the community,” said Vasquez. DECA already works with Dan’s Food Market for their student store purchases and received advice from Rusty Gibbs of Gibbs Graphics about their shirt printing business.
In the new high school, DECA students can look forward to the business department being adjacent to the student-run store and the extra space for storage of the custom shirt supplies.
DECA has impacted the graduating seniors. Everest will be going on to study business administration at Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage. Jacobson will attend Carroll College in Helena, Montana to pursue nursing, which will utilize the communication and problem-solving skills she learned through DECA.
“Regarding the power behind the DECA experience,” Pehowski explained, “I would say it comes down to providing authentic learning experiences for students that will take them from being young adults to young professionals not just in the area of business but in any profession.”
“DECA gives students a taste of success, which builds confidence,” added Vasquez. “It can be a game changer for thinking about what you want to do beyond high school.”

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here