D.E.C.A. Activities Canceled

Junior Ash Masrani initiated a section of the Distributive Education Clubs of America at Jamesville-Dewitt High School this year. She is co-president along with senior Hannah Fagut. They had a trip to New York City planned for the club along with fundraisers to make it possible. However, this trip, along with their Pizza Wednesday fundraiser, has been canceled.

D.E.C.A. is a "business-oriented academic club that helps kids develop social business/financial skills," said Masrani. D.E.C.A. gives members opportunities to practice marketing, finance, management and hospitality skills in competitions that can go on as high as a national level, according to www.deca.org.

Money was being raised by selling Little Caesar's pizza to students during all lunch periods every Wednesday. Club members chose to volunteer their lunchtime so that there would be enough money for the entire club to go on the trip, not just individuals who could afford it. Pizza was sold for $1 a slice, or $8 for a whole box.

Another purpose of this fundraiser was to raise money for club members who cannot afford the D.E.C.A. requirements such as the special coats needed to compete in D.E.C.A. competitions, said Masrani. D.E.C.A. has their first competition of the year on Dec. 21 at Le Moyne College.

But this Pizza Wednesday fundraiser has been canceled. Principal Paul Gasparini sent out an email on Nov. 3 that said that food fundraisers were suspended until further notice.

This new rule is "understandable but it hinders (the) progress of a lot of clubs," said Fagut. Selling food at lunch was where many clubs got most of their money, she said. It is an "understandable but harsh rule," Fagut concluded.

The NYC trip for J-D (other high schools are still going on the trip) was canceled due to miscommunication about the deadline for when money was due, said Fagut. On an information sheet about this year's NYC trip, a deadline of Oct. 15 was given, but the online information contradicted that saying that the money was due Nov. 14. Barbra Henn, head of programming for every high school's D.E.C.A. trip, assured the co-presidents that the online was correct even though it wasn't, said Fagut. So when they were asked for their trip money, the club only had about half of the money that they needed on Oct. 15, said Masrani. It must have just been a simple misunderstanding, but because of it the deadline was missed, said Fagut.

Both co-presidents are now trying to plan a more local trip. They hope to plan an overnight weekend trip at a local hotel in Syracuse, said Fagut. A local trip would be "more available to more people and affordable," said Masrani. Club members would still be able to participate in the same activities, like attending a "Peoplemap," said Fagut. A Peoplemap is a seminar/workshop that teaches people how to deal with and create effective relationships with different kinds of people for business communications.

D.E.C.A. competitions give members opportunities to test their skills in the "real world" through tasks that build their leadership and team skills. Some tasks they do include quizzes and events that apply classroom learning to the real world. The projects help students have a grownup perspective of their work ethic, said junior Emily Bazydlo. D.EC.A. helps members learn how to handle themselves in adult situations, said Bazydlo. Teenagers have their parents do everything for them, so D.E.C.A. teaches them how be more adult like and handle things on their own, she said.

At the current meetings, members are learning how to act in a professional way during business meetings or events, said Bazydlo. They also practice for their events at competition. All of the competition events connect to real jobs available later in life, and there are a multitude of events available to the individual or a team.

"I am planning on participating in the international business event or the business administration event. I am prepping for both and I will later decide which I feel more adequate at," said Fagut.

In the international business event, participants must make a written proposal of a new business idea then must present that idea in an oral presentation to a judge. In the business administration event, participants must first take a core exam testing their knowledge in multiple subjects like business law and strategic management. Then, they must complete an unknown task using information gained from an interview with a business executive (deca.org). These competitions teach D.E.C.A. members to have strong will power and a healthy amount of self-confidence.

Club members enjoy D.E.C.A. very much and are excited to have the club available at J-D this year. "I was so excited for it and was the first to sign up," said Fagut, "Whenever Ash needed help, I offered my assistance. We started talking and eventually decided to dub me a board member! I was so excited and still hold onto that excitement for the club," she said.