When the Eagles’ nest takes flight and aims high, they can reach the greatest prize of all: gold.
“I felt really good at first and I think we were all just happy that it finally was there because we knew we did it,” senior Robert Hilliard said. “We knew that we put in quality work and it was just good to see the result come out.”
Marketing teacher Louise LaFaive chose seniors Jonathan Kotas, Robert Thompson and Hilliard as her trusted trio. Their extensive paper earned the school store gold certification through Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA). The business and marketing club allows students to compete in events and plan future business ideas. DECA helps
Students acquire useful life skills through a view of the real world outside of high school.
“It wasn’t necessarily very hard work; it was just very tedious and very information research based,” Thompson said, “Basically, you had to plan and go look for something and then apply it in your own words.”
Three students must complete a packet of written prompts with ten sections every five years to recertify the school store to keep it open. This explained why the school store’s marketing, sales, placement of the products and more deserved the gold certification.
“They work really hard behind the scenes and the students take the time out of their day to help out,” Kotas said. “It gives students somewhere to go and get their favorite snacks.”                                  Normally, students must pass the DECA written event first, then bypass Regionals (where the lower events occur) and then compete for States. However, the team bypassed Regionals and are not only state qualifiers, but national qualifiers, as well.
“I am really happy,” Thompson said, “I am also proud of myself and my two other teammates.”
This is the sixth year the school store has been gold certified. They did not write a paper last year because they did not have a fully operational store, according to LaFaive.
“I am very proud of the hard work that the boys did on this certification paper,” LaFaive said. “It showed maturity and dedication to take on this task and master it.”