![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
Upper school DECA chapter hosts club month
DECA officers hand out bowls of ice cream at last year’s ice cream social. DECA month will continue throughout November.
November 4, 2015
The upper school DECA chapter will host its club month throughout November in order to promote their club.
DECA educates students on the pillars of marketing, management, hospitality, and finance in over 5,000 high school chapters across the nation.
“Over 200,000 students are a part of DECA throughout the world, and each chapter at all the different schools does something different for DECA month,” business and entrepreneurship advisor Juston Glass said.
This month will entail numerous community service events and fundraisers, including an ice cream social, a game of capture the flag (in partnership with the spirit club), and a Hunger Games movie night. Students will play in the Hoops and Scoops basketball game to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Last year’s Hoops and Scoops game raised about $400.
“Hoops and Scoops is a faculty and student basketball game where we sold ice cream and the ice cream went directly to MDA,” said Shannon Hong (12). “It’s a partnership between DECA and MDA that happens nationally, but we did it on a chapter basis.”
Proceeds from Hoops and Scoops and the movie night will go directly to charity, while money from the ice cream social sales will be split between the school and other organizations.
Director of Written Events and Presentations Alexander Mo (11) helped prepare this year’s activities and looks forward to the capture the flag fundraiser.
“I’m really excited about Harker DECA’s new capture the flag fundraiser because it will continue to spread DECA’s involvement in community service efforts,” he said. “The [Public Relations] team has been working extremely hard for the past month to plan all the events by communicating with organizations both on and off campus.”
“We have a bad connotation about us throughout the high school, and I think it’s good to let people know that we do help contribute to the community,” Director of Examinations Lucas Wang (11) said. “We have our Key Clubs, we have our Interact Clubs, but DECA as a business club also helps the community.”
The next event for DECA members is the LACE (Leadership and Competitive Excellence) conference, which is the first non-competitive conference for newcomers to learn about the basics of DECA. LACE will take place in DoubleTree by Hilton San Jose from Nov.13 to 15.
