San Jose, California— During the month of November, Harker DECA celebrated DECA Month by hosting Community Service, Ethical Leadership, and Promotional campaigns. Over the course of November, Harker DECA’s Instagram (@harkerdeca) uploaded daily posts responding to DECA-related prompts and  shared alumni success stories. Also through Instagram, Harker DECA created engaging ethics polls called “Let’s Talk Ethics” and hosted a DECAthlon where students could participate in business trivia with ethical dilemmas. Outside of social media, the chapter’s school outreach activities included an Ice Cream Social, Hustle for Muscle, Dine with DECA, assembling Project Glimmer Care Packages, and the Textile Drive. 

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“DECA Month is the most special time of the year,” said Lauren Lin, Vice President of Public Relations.  “Because of the huge addition of members this year, it’s really important that we get to know our chapter and engage with everyone. The various activities and events also allowed us to give back to the community.”

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OUTREACH ACTIVITIES: 

During the chapter campaign, Harker DECA hosted five outreach activities— Ice Cream Social, Hustle for Muscle, Dine with DECA, Project Glimmer Care Packages, and Textile Drive. 

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Ice Cream Social: 

On Friday, November 1st, Harker DECA kicked off the start of DECA month by having an ice cream social before the weekly study session. The event brought energy to the start of DECA month, as the participation had a massive turnout. So many members of the school community attended the event, that Harker DECA even ran out of ice cream to serve! Members had the chance to bond with one another over ice cream and celebrate the end of the week. Many DECA pursuits were discussed amongst the students with a circulation of excitement for WRLC.  

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Hustle for Muscle: 

On Tuesday, November 12th, Harker DECA invited students from all grades to compete in Hustle 4 Muscle, a charity volleyball tournament that raises awareness for MDA, Muscle Dystrophy Association. Before the event, Harker DECA Executive Vice President, Maya Affaki (12), spoke to the crowd about MDA’s work and its national partnership with DECA. Also at the event, officers handed out flyers to the crowd with a QR code to donate to the organization and support its work. The competition was fun for all participants, and the winning team was awarded with free boba for their accomplishment.

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Dine with DECA: 

On Wednesday, November 20th, Harker DECA hosted the annual Dine with DECA event where industry professionals had lunch with aspiring DECA members. Students gained knowledge about the applications of business and entrepreneurship in the professional world and steps they could take as high schoolers to begin their careers. Mentors shared stories of their diverse backgrounds and industries they work in and also taught about the different lessons they learned along the way. Students had the chance to meet all mentors and learn different things from each of them. They left the event with multiple perspectives that will ultimately guide them not only through high school but also into their college/professional careers. 

The mentors were as follows: Nabeel Ahmed (Finance and Communication Services), Karthik Balachandran (Technical Sales and Entrepreneurship), Jonathan Pettingill (Marketing and Computer Science), and Grace Chin (Finance and Accounting).

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Project Glimmer Care Packages: 

On Friday, November 22nd, Harker DECA partnered with Harker Female Empowerment (FEM) Club and Project Glimmer, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support and uplift underprivileged women through the donation of care packages to local women’s shelters. The two organizations worked tirelessly to put together the care packages, and all who were involved felt excited to be making a difference in the lives of local women. 

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Textile Drive: 

Through the week of November 18th, Harker DECA partnered with the Harker Green Team to host a school-wide textile drive. Boxes around campus collected hundreds of clothing items, which were dropped off to the Green Education Foundation. The GED is an organization founded by Charlene Nijmeh, the Chairwoman of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, whose ancestral lands our school is situated on. The organization either donates the clothing or upcycles the fabrics into other projects. Our chapter advisor, Mr. Glass, drove the items to our neighborhood donation center.

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SOCIAL MEDIA: 

Over the course of November, Harker DECA shared alumni success stories, participated in DECA’s social media challenge, and created an opportunity for students to share their opinions on ethical behavior.

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Social Media Challenge: 

Every day in November, Harker DECA’s Public Relations team created graphics to post @harkerdeca responding to DECA Inc.’s daily prompts. By participating in this challenge, the chapter was not only able to provide insight into what DECA is like at Harker but also foster a sense of community with followers and DECA chapters across the nation.

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Alumni Takeovers: 

From November 11th-November 15th, five Harker alumni were chosen to take over the chapter’s instagram account for each day. They were able to interact with followers through a Q&A and walk them through their daily lives by posting stories. Most alumni advocated for the application of ethics in their post-graduate lives and gave advice to members on how to stay ethical in high school no matter what circumstance arises. The alumni also gave many examples about how ethical education has advanced their career in college and even after. 

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DECAthlon: 

From November 4th-November 7th, Harker DECA conducted a DECAthlon through instagram. Students had the opportunity to play a trivia game on business ethics and learn about how to handle certain situations where ethical dilemmas are present. This activity provided feedback to the officer team on what ethics to focus on teaching during future study sessions. Although, the majority of responses were correct, as students actively applied their ethical knowledge to the situations given. 

About The Harker School DECA 

Harker DECA is an International Competitive Business Organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in four fields of business: marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. Our DECA chapter integrates classroom instruction, applies learning, connects to business, and promotes competition in order to prepare the next generation to be academically prepared, community oriented, professionally responsible, and experienced leaders.

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Contact Information

To learn more about this story, please contact:

Kai Nishimura, Director of Communications

27KaiN@students.harker.org

deca.harker.org

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