As a business and economics teacher, Ms. Lisa Moore has dedicated her life to helping students pursue their passions through business skills. Being involved in DECA, an organization created for emerging leaders and entrepreneurs, for 15 years, Ms. Moore has experienced both sides of the program as a student and a mentor.

She joined the business program as a student at Wakefield but not to pursue business. “When I did it in high school, it was more because we had a fashion merchandising class, which was a marketing class, so everything we did was oriented around fashion.” Ms. Moore said. “I knew about [DECA], but I didn’t know about it to that state level, to that national level.”

With Ms. Moore’s guidance, students participating in DECA at the school have made it to nationals four or five times. Ms. Moore even plans to incorporate DECA into the classes, using such tactics as the Stock Market Game. Using these skills in classrooms as well as in DECA can encourage students to join the business career. DECA uses case studies as part of their competitive event, and so, for the Introduction students, that’s a good way for them to be able to read, analyze, interpret something and then present it using those skills. “For IB students, case studies are always good, because then they can kind of think outside the box of a business mindset of how a certain situation should be handled.” Ms. Moore said. “In addition to that, I think the interview skills we do through mock interviews, is helpful to students who want to join the business career as well.”

As a DECA adviser, Ms. Moore assists her students in different ways. “For their projects, I give them resources that they would need to put together if they are doing a project or some type of role play,” Ms. Moore said.

Ms. Moore’s goal is to get her students to nationals again this year. Though the DECA Nationals is in California WHEN, Ms. Moore is determined to get her students there. “Last year, we took five students to Nationals,” Ms. Moore said. “Whenever [Nationals] is in California, the hype is even more, because everybody wants the potential to go. Not just in our school, but all schools in the area.”

 DECA has made some big changes. Starting out as a small club to get students interested in business, it has grown to become a National, super-competitive club, and although DECA still may not be the biggest club, but Ms. Moore says “We have grown each year.”