Oxford High School’s DECA Club once again did the community proud by doing extremely well in the state competition held March 12-14 in Dearborn.
Of the 32 DECA students who represented Oxford, 20 qualified to compete at the International Career Development Conference April 24-27 in Louisville, Kentucky.
‘That’s pretty good,? said DECA advisor Steve Ruch. ‘We’ve got over 50 percent going. I was real pleased with how those kids performed. Even the kids that didn’t make it, they did very well and got a lot of positive feedback from the judges. All the kids performed well.?
All of the projects required a 30-page written entry and 15-minute oral presentation before DECA judges.
DECA is an international association of high school and college students studying marketing, management and entrepreneurship in business, finance, hospitality and marketing sales and service.
Next month’s international conference is the highlight of the DECA year for the approximately 15,000 members, advisors, businesspersons and alumni who attend. Most of the participants will be competitors in one of the events.
‘I have more underclassmen than seniors going, which is a little abnormal for us. But I’m real excited about seeing how they do,? Ruch said. ‘The kids and I are going to be working over the next few weeks to make some improvements ? do some things that the judges suggested. I’m looking forward to it.?
The following students are heading to the international conference:
n Danielle Bauman, Emily Holland and Megan Tilley did a public relations project promoting the advantages of ‘going green? to OHS students and the Oxford community.
n Leah Paul, Brittney Resk and Cody Ruch promoted financial literacy to high school and middle school students by teaching lessons about the importance of maintaining good credit, creating and following a budget, and investment strategies.
n Sarah Ricketts and Sara Ruch promoted the concept of entrepreneurship to both OHS students and fifth-graders at Oxford Elementary.
n Samantha Connelly and Allison Laidlaw formulated a business plan for a water ski summer camp for children.
n Kevin Cramer and Zach Miller; Elizabeth Downs, Alex Labarge and Olivia Jones; Paul Elezaj, Gabe Grifka and Chris Lanctot; Lindsay Stairs and Joshua Taraski ? Students on these four teams worked with Boulder Pointe Golf Club, Oxford Township Parks and Recreation, Ox Bar and Grill and the Oxford Big Boy to develop a strategic plan to improve employee training.