Jordan High School DECA students are taking action.

Throughout the school year, the group of business students organized various events and initiatives aimed at giving back to the community and recognize those who support it.

One of the first projects involved a carnival for preschool students at The Sammy Center, an organization which supports children with trauma-induced social and emotional needs. In addition to the carnival, students baked cookies in appreciation for local firefighters, conducted a cleanup in Dimple Dell Regional Park, and led a lesson for Mt. Jordan Middle School students.

“We wanted to show our appreciation for our community and provide service to those who live in it,” said junior Kiera Champion, who serves as Jordan High’s chapter community relations officer for DECA, an organization that prepares students for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, management and entrepreneurship.

The DECA members’ work began with The Sammy Center, where they collaborated with the preschool’s director to plan and market a carnival. The event was hosted at St. Anna’s Greek Orthodox Church, and DECA members contributed through several ways, including organizing activities, selling tickets, assisting with food and interacting with the kids.

“We had about 15 volunteers that day, but overall, we had 35 members help market the event from creating fliers to getting sponsors to make the carnival successful for the kids,” she said.

This event follows a similar one held the previous year.

“It’s becoming a fun tradition for us to help The Sammy Center and it’s good because it benefits them and helps us to learn how to market a community event,” Champion said.

A few weeks after the carnival, the DECA team used the school’s culinary room to bake 50 cookies, which they then individually packaged. These sweet treats were taken to the local Sandy fire station along with handwritten thank-you notes attached to each cookie bag.

“We wanted to show our appreciation to our local first responders because we feel they don’t get enough recognition,” she said. “So, we did something personal for them.”

In early winter, another group of DECA students participated in a community cleanup at Dimple Dell Regional Park. Armed with trash bags, they focused on removing plastic water bottles, food wrappers, papers and broken glass from the park’s trails.

“We wanted to clean up the gully so our community can continue to enjoy its natural beauty,” Champion said.

Before winter break, two students led a lesson for a career and technical education class at Mt. Jordan Middle School. The lesson introduced DECA to the sixth-grade students and provided them with strategies for marketing ideas.

“We told them what DECA is and did an introduction activity with them to teach them how to market their ideas,” she said.

The activity involved the middle schoolers brainstorming products, which they then marketed to the DECA students. The products ranged from doughnuts to drawing tablets to a nail business.

“It’s similar to our DECA competitions where we’re given a scenario to market, but this was a bit more kid-friendly. The kids were super into it and it was a lot of fun to hear their ideas,” Champion said.

Looking ahead, the DECA group plans to serve the senior community in Sandy in early 2025.

Champion and other club members also are working on several key projects for DECA’s upcoming international convention in Orlando, including their promotional campaign, community service campaign and membership campaign.

“These service projects meet the requirements for Orlando, but we’re also doing them because we want to get in touch with our community, and we want to become more involved with people who live here,” she said. 

As part of their preparation for the international competition, the students share alumni success stories. They interviewed several former Jordan High students, including the head of the alumni association, a local lawyer, and the manager of Uintah Golf.

“We interviewed people asking them about their experiences at Jordan High and what they’ve accomplished after graduation. We’re including those write-ups, our report about community outreach, and a separate report for The Sammy Center in our chapter campaign,” she said.

Many of the DECA students also will participate in the state competition, scheduled for Feb. 20-21. Champion plans to compete in marketing or business management.

In addition to these projects, the chapter operates the school store, known as The Spot, and hosts social events for members, such as movie nights and ice skating.

“It’s a good opportunity to do things with other students who have similar interests and to learn how we can use our skills to serve the community,” Champion said. “It’s been a lot of fun.” λ