February/March 2012 - Laramie County School District #01

Public Schools’ Chronicle February 2012 • 5Marketing for a causeEast students learn by helping othersEast High School’s ManuelFlores has worked for 21years to instill a sense ofcommunity awareness and leadershipin his marketing students.In turn, he said they always seemto amaze him with their creativityand initiative.Students who sign up formarketing classes at East learnabout the basics of marketing,public relations, advertising andbusiness plans. They expandthis knowledge with first-handexperience in operating theschool store, since part of theclass requires each student towork a week over the lunch hourin the store.“Our school store is an extensionfor the marketing programs,”Flores explained. “We seea lot of kids who want to comeback and work more.”While working at the store, studentscreate specials and developpromotions to advertise theirsales. Flores said these experiencesoften entice students to joinEast High DECA (DistributiveEducation Clubs of America).DECA members also use theirmarketing experience to promotecommunity causes. Flores saidDECA students have a chance toparticipate in local and nationalcompetitions.“Our main function is to teachleadership and communityawareness while students learnhands-on marketing skills,”Flores said.Club members are always lookingfor ideas they can turn intocommunity marketing projects,which are then presented to judgesduring the competitions.In the area of creative marketing,Flores said DECA studentsresearch an issue or communityidea. For example, past issueshave included downtown developmentand improving the city’sappearance.“Chapter membersdo directprimary researchthrough personalinterviews and surveys,”Flores said.For example,when researchinghow to improvedowntown and thelook of Cheyenne,students met withthe mayor. Thisinformation is thencompiled and analyzedso studentscan develop a planto help improve theissue.Flores said othercauses have includedpromoting thedangers of texting and driving,the risks of obesity and raisingmoney for cancer research.“We’ve also worked withSafehouse, the Ronald McDonaldhouse in Denver and ARC ofLaramie County,” Flores said.Currently, students are workingto raise money so Cheyenne’sSpecial Olympics athletes canbuy uniforms. “Also, students inour DECA chapter are going tobuddy up with participants andwork with the athletes when theytrain,” Flores said.Flores said students who taketheir projects to state competitioncreate presentation boardsand PowerPoint slides that areshown to the judges. Winners ofstate competition then go on tonationals.“It’s been fantastic,” Floressaid. “Sometimes they win andsometimes they lose but it’s notabout the trophy, it’s about thepeople they’ve helped and thelives they’ve touched.”Flores said students can alsoparticipate in competitionthrough role-playing exerciseswhere they are given 10 minutesJesse Rubalcaba, left, and Austin Jones assist customers Devin Riekens, Troy Painter, Katie Overstreet, Lauren Bacon, AaronEshleman and Heather Glaser, at the T-Bird Nest school store.to develop different responses toscenarios that they act out witha judge.“It’s quick thinking and theyhave to be creative,” Flores said.“They also have to take a test inthe subject matter to make surethey know it. The test counts for50 percent of their overall score.”This year’s competition washeld Feb. 2-4 in Casper. Twentyeightstudents participated.Flores said proceeds from theschool store help offset the costsso students can attend. In addition,two of this year’s DECAstudents—Austin Jones andDean Jackson—have expandedupon the physical store conceptby re-creating the T-Bird Nest asa virtual store where patrons canpurchase products online.“While the store is profitable,the more we can sell, the less weas chapter members have to payfor our trips to state and nationalcompetition,” Jackson commented.“We had no online presencebefore we did this project andnow we have a Facebook pageand a website.”Both students are excitedabout the new website and theirinvolvement with DECA as it hashelped them in the jobs they holdwithin the community. Jones,who is a sales associate at FinishLine and a training manager atJimmy John’s said, “DECA hasallowed me to be more comfortablespeaking in public and hashelped me develop a customerservicemindset.”Jackson, who is a sales associateat Sears, said, DECA hasgiven him a broader perspectivewhen it comes to the businessworld. “We learn a lot of valuablelife skills,” he said. “I know mymanagers, if they ever ask anopinion, always come to me firstbecause they know that I knowwhat I’m talking about. I thinkDECA and our marketing classeshave helped me out quite a bit.”—Photo & text by Mary Quast