Blacksburg High School’s DECA club is one busy organization. Formerly known as the Distributive Education Clubs of America but now simply called DECA, the group focuses on four areas: marketing, management, hospitality/tourism and finance. All the areas are “wrapped around” entrepreneurship, BHS teacher and club sponsor Kim Radford explained.
The club is associated with the dual enrollment marketing class that Radford teaches at BHS in cooperation with New River Community College for which students can obtain college credit upon successful completion.
Radford is willing to take on outside projects, because she finds hands-on ventures can impart skills that are hard to teach in the classroom setting. But Radford said it is up to the kids to “seize the opportunities”—and that they do. Right now, there are two big projects with which the club is involved.
One group is working with the New River Valley Diamonds, a softball league with six teams. The Diamonds needed help to keep the league going in preparation for when Marty and Andrea Muscatello, the founders, retire. Plus, there were necessary tasks for which board members did not have time.
Enter Brandon DeLorenzo and Christopher Marks. They attended a Diamonds board meeting to get a feel for what the organization wanted. Marks then revamped the website, while DeLorenzo worked on a handbook for managers.
Andrea Muscatello said that the duo has also organized fundraisers, sent thank-you letters to sponsors, and gotten parents more involved. Their focus now, said Marks, is a social media marketing campaign. Radford said she feels the pair’s “fresh eyes” have helped the Diamonds.
The boys entered their work for the Diamonds into competition. After placing in the top nine in the state, they are competing in Atlanta in the International Career Development Conference this weekend.
Radford said that having the outside group’s representative (Muscatello) being directly involved has helped the students’ project because judges like to see what kids can do in a realistic setting.
DeLorenzo and Marks, both seniors, plan to pursue sports marketing at Ohio University. Muscatello said, “They got real-world experience and we got the benefit of their marketing.”
The other DECA team works for Kathy’s Cats, an organization founded by Kathy Chadwick to save stray cats. Muscatello adopted two of Kathy’s cats a year ago and saw that Chadwick needed help administering her unofficial organization because she was overwhelmed.
“Cats are like potato chips, you can’t stop at just one,” Chadwick said.
So Muscatello connected Chadwick with DECA. The team of Lucas Keighton, Adia Long, Stephen Kromin and Brain Currin came up with the animal group’s name; created a Facebook page and finished its website; made posters, flyers and business cards and helped with a recent presentation to the Blacksburg Newcomer Club.
A professional web developer looked at the new website, and said it was one of the best he’d ever seen, related Muscatello.
“Adia and Brian are in the agriculture program so there was a direct connection to the cats; Steve is creative; and Lucas is the organizer,” Radford said.
Each member bringing a different skill set to the team is how teams work in the real world. The students estimate they have spent over 100 man-hours on the project.
Each member bringing a different skill set to the team is how teams work in the real world. The students estimate they have spent over 100 man-hours on the project.
Long said she was “up for doing anything to help the community,” and she loves cats. Keighton liked that the project was a mix of classroom learning and an opportunity to do something he is passionate about.
While none of the four necessarily plan to pursue a career in marketing, Currin said the real-world experience in technology has been valuable, plus applying what they learned in the classroom has benefitted all parties.
Keighton concurred that gaining experience was a plus because skills such as making presentations, working on group projects, communicating with people and being on time will be needed in college and the future in a variety of fields.
Chadwick said the kids have, like her, become attached to the cats. They play with the animals when they come to take photos for the website. Most will continue to volunteer after graduation.
“I have no plans to leave Kathy’s Cats,” Kromin said.
This is unusual as high school students are typically ready to move on, said Chadwick.
“I can’t say enough about the DECA kids,” she continued. “They have been phenomenal. They have worked really hard, and I’m delighted to be the beneficiary. It was in my heart but came out of their heads.”
Chadwick added that Radford is “incredibly dedicated to the kids.”
Andrea Muscatello is the liaison between both community groups and DECA. The former BHS PTSO (Parent Teacher Student Organization) president became aware of DECA’s potential when her girls attended BHS.
She approached Radford, who readily agreed to let her make a presentation to the DE class. Radford was then able to match students’ interests to what the community organizations were looking for.
Muscatello said that she directs the DECA kids working on the Kathy’s Cats project, as well as the NRV Diamonds project, so that Chadwick can focus on the cats.
“I really like the way these projects have brought real world needs into the high school classroom and the students have had to put their classroom learning into practice,” Muscatello said.
DECA also sponsors Junior Assembly, a program dedicated to teaching etiquette and dance to 7th and 8th grade area students. In addition, the club sponsors Home for the Holidays, a $5,000 food and fundraising drive that ensures children who receive free and reduced lunches in the Blacksburg school strand are fed over the long Christmas break.
DECA has put on a Cinderella project, too, which helps girls who would otherwise not be able to afford to attend prom obtain dresses.
Radford has been impressed not only with her students’ enthusiasm, but with the trust Muscatello and Chadwick placed in them. It is unusual for people to give such an opportunity to high schoolers, and these students ran with it.
“It shows when you have faith in kids what they can do,” she said.
