At a school like Apple Valley High School, where nationally ranked speakers as well as state champion athletes walk the halls, it can be quite difficult for other extracurriculars and programs to get the spotlight.  

For example, did you know that the Apple Valley DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) a national association for students to study and present on varying aspects of business and marketing had a four day long tournament in downtown Minneapolis?  In fact, eight of your classmates, Ford Freidel, Sarah Crippes, Henry Dikeman, Tayla Rawdah, Isaiah Ewald, Carleen Olson, and Markus Lombardi all competed at the State Development Career Conference this past month.  

DECA consists of three main categories: marketing, business management and administration, finance, and hospitality and tourism.  It provides a learning experience for students to study career goals and ideas.  Chris Scanlon, a DECA Advisor , says, “Really you can gain hard and soft skills in DECA.  Hard skills being written papers and resumes, and soft skills being the art of a sale, and the ability to carry on a conversation, even ‘BSing’ someone”.  Not only can you gain knowledge from it, you can bring home trophies and successes to Apple Valley High School.  

Apple Valley’s three state champions,  Ford Freidel, Tayla Rawdah, and Carleen Olson won in the category of Marketing Plan-Services.  In addition, Sarah Crippes, Henry Dikeman, and Isaiah Ewald,achieved top test scores at the tournament.  Furthermore, Ewald finaled in Business Finance Role Play, Freidel, Katie Carlson Ewald finaled as well in Entrepreneurship Promotion Plan.

A really valuable skill Rawdah has gained, she says, is how to communicate with lost of different kinds of people and present to a judge.  She adds that it opened her eyes to how competitive the business world is.

Innovation, Professionalism, communication, and business smarts are all skills to be gained by any Apple Valley student who joins the DECA program.  DECA really is a great program, says Advisor Scanlon, “and I think a lot of people would benefit from joining.  You’ve heard it before, that Apple Valley likes to win, in school and outside of the classroom, and the AVHS DECA program continues to prove that.