DECA, or the Distributive Education Clubs of America, is a club that teaches kids about the marketing world and real-life business experiences.  According to its website at deca.org, DECA “DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe.”

The club was run by by Mr. Repece last year, but he left Cinnaminson High School (CHS) after one year. This year, a new teacher named Ms. Esposito has taken over the huge responsibilities of DECA. She has made some major changes to DECA that she has been willing to share.

She says, “I think the papers, having students write 30-page manuals to go to states is one of the big changes this year.”

Ms. Esposito was also asked about how being a new teacher in Cinnaminson has affected DECA and she smiled as she answered saying, “it’s a lot because this year is my first year being a teacher altogether so planning for the classes and getting used to all the way Cinnaminson works here and figure out how the DECA program works and kinda add my touches on to it.”

Although seeming overwhelmed with all of her new responsibilities, Ms. Esposito seems to be able to manage everything so far. In asking what her expectations were for the upcoming DECA competitions which she responded to by saying, “I hope students will qualify for the next level up and I think that for first year DECA members it will kinda be a realization for what actually happens at the conference and I hope a lot of students will qualify.”

Senior and three-year member of DECA, Josh Wood, who is returning as the president of this year’s DECA chapter, says that DECA has a lot planned with the class.

“We’re utilizing the marketing classes more than in previous years and trying to connect what we’re learning into what we will be doing at our conferences from competing in business-oriented role plays and networking with other DECA chapters,” Josh continued.  “Some of our upcoming events include the Dodgeball Tournament, Winter Dance, and Mr. Cinnaminson. And right now we have a lot of senior leadership so we’re trying identify underclassmen (juniors and sophomores) that we believe will help our chapter continue to thrive in future years, including the only officer that is not a senior, JT Holt.”

Three-year DECA member Liam Wharton has noticed the positive changes that Ms. Esposito has brought to the program.

“DECA has improved a great deal just based off of (Ms. Esposito), she is taking this a lot more seriously than our teacher last year and is a lot harder on the students in class, especially with what she expects out of us,” Liam continued. “I think this will result in us doing well in the competitions this year.”

Ms. Esposito was attracted to Cinnaminson and the DECA program based on reputation and what she learned and she does not seem to be disappointed.

“I heard very good things about this school, the DECA program and I like the small school feel of it all and getting to know all the teachers and the students and I think there’s a lot of opportunities to continue to build the DECA program,” she said.

Josh is also excited about another aspect of the program that he is looking forward to – DECA nationals.

“This year, nationals will be in Atlanta, Georgia. As of now, we are projected to have 14 students attend along with our co-advisers Ms. Esposito and Mrs. Neuman,” Josh said.

Cinnaminson seems to be lucky to have been able to add Mrs. Esposito to the staff this year and, hopefully, the years following.