DECA rebranding

A new school year invites new teachers, leading to new clubs and sponsors. DECA’s newest sponsor, Laurie Jennings, the graphic design teacher, is taking action and working towards a “rebranding” of the infamous club. With a new set of officers, sponsor, and purpose, DECA has a fresh foundation to succeed.

“DECA is a club that is built around marketing. Marketing is the main aspect, but there are other components that we focus on within the business career field,” said Jennings.

The Distributive Education Clubs of America’s (DECA) mission is to prepare potential leaders of various business fields such as marketing, hospitality and tourism, business administration, and finance. According to the official DECA website, over 215,000 students in more than 3,500 high school chapters, are members of a club dedicated to building business leaders.

 “I feel like I’m a pretty great business woman, and I do well presenting in front of people. I thought that if I took advantage of the opportunities that DECA provides, it would be a valuable asset to me in the future. We stay extremely involved with our DECA competitions, while representing Har-Ber in the best way,” said junior Sally Roach.

DECA is a respected national club, but after incidents that obstructed members from maintaining the mission of DECA, the local chapter has been promoting their club with a new perspective.

“It came to my attention that the past several years, there have been a lot of issues and situations that have gone on that have put DECA in a bad light. There are so many kids who are motivated, that want to do well and make a difference, compete in events, and do community service so we’ve adopted the hashtag “#rebranding” to let people know that how people view DECA will hopefully change completely and stick from here on out,” said Jennings.

Vice President of the local DECA chapter, Brody Lee, encourages students who have any interest in business to join their club.

“I joined DECA because I plan to go into the marketing field after high school. It’s a great club to join, because you get real life experience; you learn so much in this club. DECA is always energetic,” said Lee.

The local DECA chapter is currently looking into various philanthropic causes to support, local and national, to contribute to the national DECA chapter.

“I would love to find a project that hits close to home, so I’ve been researching charities and needs that could really make a difference for either someone at Har-Ber or in our community,” said Jennings.

With its new name and image, DECA has created potential real-life situations in which students can train for the future and earn experience.

“DECA is a great to see if the business field is right for you, because it exposes you to so many different avenues of business. A lot of the trips and competitions we on go, you’re going to hear from business leaders in your community, in your state, and national leaders at the national level. It’s worth joining, just to see if anything sparks your interest,” said Jennings.