DECA plans for annual trip to New York City

Margaret Oliphant
Video Editor

Oliphant_DECA graphic — Marketing II and THRIVE students visit the Statue of Liberty during the 2023 trip to New York City. Photo provided by Kathryn Lrentius

DECA has been flying out to New York City for over 21 years. This year, it will be in New York from Jan. 9, through Jan. 14.

Seniors in marketing two, DECA and THRIVE are visiting New York for experiential learning through advertisement adjacencies, tours of retail space, workshops and business presentations. The trip is to build networking opportunities and give students hands-on experience.

Students will visit companies like Google, Excel Sports Management, the NHL corporation and McCann Global Health, along with various other businesses and people.

Students pay for most of the trip, and fundraisers such as Night in the Courtyard and the 10k prize shot help cover costs.

“I’m really excited, it’s going to be a really good opportunity,” senior and co-president Ava Lamitola said. “I think it will be insightful to see what it would be like to work in one of those businesses.”

Senior Libby Combs is looking forward to making connections through corporations.

“I’ve been looking forward to it for quite awhile. It’s the whole reason I took the class, and then I fell in love with the topic,” Combs said.

Sixty-four students will go on the trip. They will stay at a hotel in Time Square along with chaperones counselor Ken Winningham, assistant athletic director Chris Johnson, marketing teachers Kara Siebe and Kathryn Laurentius, Maker Space teacher Mindy Siefertand and director of communication Derek Duncan. Laurentius and Siebe go every year; the other four chaperones change every year based on availability.

The group also plans to do things in New York City such as see a show on Broadway, go to NBC’s The Today Show, the Statue of Liberty and ice skating at Rockefeller Center.