On Dec. 6, an American Airlines flight from Raleigh-Durham, taking one hour and 34 minutes, transported eight Clinton High School DECA Club members to New York City.
The DECA club attended a national DECA convention in New York City from Dec. 6-10. Austin Johnson, Gage Jackson, Zachary Parker, Shawn Matthews, Emily Sumner, Claire Tart, Edye Jane Carr, and Anna Blount were the eight students who planned and attended this Career and Technical Education field trip.
Chaperones Venetia Mann (DECA Club Advisor) and Toni Blount led the students through the convention and the city streets of New York. The convention offered the opportunity to broaden knowledge on marketing skills in the biggest marketing city in the world. Students were given the opportunity to tour Madison Square Garden and listen to a presentation by the head marketing director.
The DECA students also attended a behind the scenes tour of Radio City Music Hall and then watched The Rockettes in the Christmas Spectacular Holiday Show. Beside those events, the agenda included a Knicks basketball game for a closer look at sports marketing. DECA offered an opportunity to interact with the senior marketing director and fashion designer at Macy’s, the largest department store in the world.
Interview, sportswear, casual, evening and formal clothing designs were discussed with the emphasis on interview skills and clothing choices. DECA provided the students with tickets to ride an elevator to the 82nd floor of the tallest building in New York City (before 9/11 Memorial), the Empire State Building. Another highlight included an insider tour of NBC Studios home to the Today Show, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The Voice, Saturday Night Live and many more.
At the conclusion of the tour the DECA students produced a news broadcast interviewing “mock” Olympic Athletes who will compete in the Winter Olympics in PeyongChang, Korea. During the college visit to Berkeley College, an urban private business college in New York City, the concept of internships was emphasized emphatically.
Each professional in the marketing field emphasized to the high school students from many different states, the importance of networking and high school/college internships. Walking over 25 miles during the trip experiencing attractions such as the 9/11 Memorial, The Plaza Hotel, The New York Times, Microsoft, Grand Central Station, the Subway, market places, 5th Avenue exclusive boutiques, and many store displays, the students concluded the trip with valuable experiences and memories.
The students express a special thank you to the DECA advisor, Venetia Mann and Toni Blount for taking us on the wonderful trip. The experiential educational trip emphasized the concepts of marketing, advertising, public relations, entrepreneurship, sales, journalism, internships and college admissions.