Participants in the Riverdale High School DECA Chapter at the Tennessee state competition.
If you know any kids in public schools, you have probably been approached and asked to help with fundraisers. You’ve probably bought those huge overpriced candy bars or subscribed to magazines that you didn’t really want. Or, my personal favorite, you’ve probably bought those rolls of Christmas wrap that barely hold enough paper to cover a shoebox. I know I have paid my fundraising dues over the years, so I was skeptical as to the value I was to receive when I was approached to be a corporate sponsor of a school organization. For once I was surprised by how much value I received for such a little investment.
Thomas Beal, a Riverdale High School student in his junior year, approached me about being a sponsor for DECA. And he asked if he could use my business, Cornerstone SCUBA, in a project that he and a friend had been assigned. I was skeptical that it would really give me anything but philanthropic benefit, but Thomas is like a son to me, so I said I would be happy to participate.
Riverdale High School has the largest DECA chapter in the state of Tennessee, with over 350 members, and is one of the top DECA chapters in the world. Joy Rich, a fearless and energetic teacher, directs the Riverdale DECA program, where kids learn real-life marketing skills.
DECA stands for Distributive Education Clubs of America, and it is an organization that promotes marketing, management and entrepreneurship in the classroom and overlaps into the real world. DECA students develop real-life marketing skills, participate in leadership roles and are educated by immersion in the values of community service. DECA also creates successful partnerships between public education and community businesses.
Beal and his partner in crime, Tanner Mayhall, had the DECA assignment to find a business with a sub-par web presence and develop ideas on how to help the business better use the Internet. As a small business owner, I was not offended by this at all. Like many small business owners, I am fully aware of where I fall short, and my Internet marketing is one of these areas; but also like many small business owners, I often lack the resources and time to accomplish what I am fully aware needs to be accomplished.
The assignment commenced and the young men interviewed me extensively about the history of my business, what my business did to generate revenue and the goals of my business. They did a thorough critique of my website, cornerstonescuba.com, and used other students to develop a survey of what was helpful on my website and ways that it could be improved. They also looked at how I was utilizing social media. Cornerstone Scuba already had a Facebook page, but we had not started utilizing Twitter. Thomas and Tanner created a Twitter account for us, and as the assignment progressed they made recommendations on how my business could communicate with our customers using the Twitter account and other social media—thanks to them you can now follow us @Cornerstonescub.
International finalists Haley Dawson, Gabby Shrader and Abby Shaw
They developed a promotional video about the business that emphasized scuba lessons and the use of our indoor swimming pool for birthday parties, and they uploaded that video to YouTube. They designed a QR code for me to use in our advertising. A QR code allows people with QR code reader apps to be taken directly to the video on their smart device. After completing their 27-page project report, they presented the information to me.
Thomas and Tanner presented their project at the Tennessee State DECA competition and won first place at the state level.
Three other DECA students–Kaitlan Maxwell, Katherine Hoepker and Rakerria Mines–did their project on a local nonprofit organization called Angels for Protectors. DECA students built a float for the Christmas parade which was seen by thousands of people, created a QR code, handed out candy canes and wore T-shirts, and their efforts resulted in new donations of over $1,200 to the organization and new sponsorships.
The Riverdale DECA chapter has also had great impact on the Rutherford County Foster Parent Association and many other local businesses. Each year the chapter takes 45-50 students to DECA’s international competition. This year, the students traveled to Anaheim, Calif., home of Disneyland and only a few minutes from Hollywood! One of the presentations, focusing on the local business Carla & Company, placed as an international finalist. It was a great experience for the students, but extremely expensive. Many of the students are on free and reduced lunch programs and their parents simply can’t afford to pay their expenses. Because of this financial burden, the DECA chapter developed a corporate sponsorship program where businesses could sponsor $150, $300 or $600 (which is tax deductible) and in turn receive a variety of specific promotions within the school.
Corporate sponsors can receive:
*A custom-created video
*A video linked to YouTube
*A QR code for company website
*A QR code generated for YouTube video
*An RTN commercial to 2,500+ Riverdale students and faculty
*A ceiling tile sign in DECA diner
*A window display in main cafeteria
*A sponsor flyer to 150+ RHS faculty
*A sponsor e-mail with discounts to parents & faculty of Riverdale High School
As a local business person struggling to keep afloat in the current economic times, it is a great joy to see teenagers putting so much passion into the work they do. Many donations are worthwhile, but few produce such an incredible return in the form of community goodwill, increased business productivity within our community and real-world educational benefit.
If you or anyone you know would like to know more about DECA and become a corporate sponsor, you can contact Joy Rich at richj@rcschools.net.
