Raegan Rapoza was a sophomore at Old Rochester Regional High School when she was walking to basketball practice and spotted Eddie Gonet and Ryu Huynh-Aoyama in the library with “a bunch of food and a bunch of people.” Rapoza decided to sit down and listen.
“It was enticing,” she said, hearing the co-founders of ORR’s DECA chapter talk about travel opportunities and potential scholarships. “It definitely did help me choose my major for college. Last year, I was thinking about elementary education until I competed in DECA. It introduced me to the whole business concept.”
On January 29, ORR’s growing DECA chapter met in the school cafeteria for a socially distanced assembly honoring award recipients from the recent regional competition. As a school, ORR finished fourth among 12 region schools, albeit without a business curriculum. A total of 34 students qualified to compete at the state level, up from 17 for the 2019-20 academic year.
“A big difference between last year and this year is we extended it to the junior high. They have Drama Club and sports…. We wanted to give them not only an opportunity to join the club but an easier transition to the high school,” explained Gonet, a junior who serves as co-president with sophomore Teddy Carroll.
Four of the 12 junior high students made it to the state competition, “Which we were over the moon about,” said Gonet. “They’re very talented. It was great news to see that. They’ll be even more prepared for next year, which is great. Now they could have six years of experiencing the program…. We all wish we could have more time with it.”
Two years ago, Gonet was a freshman when he co-founded ORR’s DECA chapter with Huynh-Aoyama, a 2020 ORR graduate now studying at the UMass Isenberg School of Management. Founded in 1946 as the Distributive Education Clubs of America, the international organization DECA is now a major extracurricular at ORR with 61 students, up from 45 a year ago.
As Gonet explained, each point of the DECA diamond logo represents the organization’s four core categories: Management, Hospitality, Finance, and Marketing, and its four core values of Competence, Integrity, Teamwork, and Innovation. The competitions consist of hypothetical, real-world-type problem solving, and Huynh-Aoyama called DECA “a business lesson to itself.”
“I’ve always been interested in business and economics, and how the economy works, the driving factors…. [DECA] also seemed like a fun opportunity at the time,” said Carroll, a sophomore from Fairhaven who’s going on 16.
Carroll competed in a Hotel and Lodging Management series event, taking a test based on categories related to the subject such as hospitality, general business questions, hotel-related questions, desk complaints, etc.
In the competition’s role-play segment, Carroll’s challenge was to address a hypothetical guest requesting to leave a sign on their door. “We had to come up with our own rules” and how to go about making a policy. “The three hours, that was probably the hardest challenge…. DECA, you have to think on your feet. You’re preparing your answer right after seeing the problem for the first time. The three hours went by really, really fast.”
DECA takes up time, especially for the co-presidents, but Carroll is an organized young man who typically runs cross-country and winter and spring track. He also joined the Debate Club, making it three extracurricular activities. He expects to pursue a future in engineering. “I’ve always enjoyed that, and maybe a minor in economics,” he said. “If you could combine an engineering mindset with a business mindset…”
DECA competition opened a portal to a new world for Rapoza, who found the experience to be at once nerve-wracking and energizing. “It really did; I never thought it would have done that. It definitely changed my life,” she said. “I was competing, my heart was pounding, but it was so thrilling it just opened my eyes up. DECA helped me with my public-speaking skills…. I was so shy. Going to Boston last year, I got to talk to so many people with similar interests.”
On the ground floor, Rapoza is an 18-year-old senior now, using the DECA experience to shape her future. The Marion native competed most recently with fellow senior Meghan Horan as partners in the Sports and Entertainment Team Decision category.
As COVID-19 has affected education altogether, it changed DECA for the 2020-21 school year as the competition was held entirely online. Rather than 10 minutes to be presented a business challenge with 10 minutes to huddle and 10 minutes to present, students were given three hours, including one hour of preparation and an hour to upload a video presentation to the competition’s YouTube channel.
Rapoza and Horan were managers of a miniature golf rewards program and used a phone app program with different levels of investment, along with social media and advertising. But they were also creative in showing the wherewithal to cycle back to old methods to bridge the gaps that a video interview typically cannot close. They made scrap-paper graphs and visuals for judges to see and hold to the camera on Zoom.
“When doing these role plays, you have to add your own little taste to it just to make sure you stand out,” said Rapoza. “It’s definitely a big surprise when you get the results back.”
ORR’s DECA chapter has several vice presidents, and Rapoza serves as V.P. of Career Development. A key role is coaching up students for their role play and testing. Through a family-friend connection, she enlisted the guidance of UMass Isenberg School of Management graduate Austin Blair. “He gave us some really good tips,” said Rapoza, who also wants to bring in ORR English teacher Mike Beson to help students better understand how to prepare their resumes and sharpen their interview skills. “Last year, he devoted a whole lesson to it, and it was very helpful.”
Friday’s awards event saw 93 trophies and medals collected, and students were greeted as they entered the cafeteria by pianist Mason Tucker, the ultra-talented ORR senior.
In his introductory remarks, Gonet publicly thanked the Tri-Town Education Foundation for its assistance, a $2,000 grant that drastically reduced the membership fee for the school year from $60 to $25. Next year there are plans to compete on Cape Cod, twice to Boston and as far away as Georgia, with Disney World on the radar for 2023. DECA was supposed to visit Disneyland in the 2020 spring semester, but that trip was canceled by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Most schools are doing an awards ceremony over Zoom. We were fortunate to do it in person. We don’t get to see half the kids,” said Gonet, noting the cohort system of hybrid school attendance made Friday’s meeting extra special. “We’re actually the first kids at ORR to stay after school in person.”
Awards included:
– Theo Jacobsen of Mattapoisett, 2024 Principles of Business Management and Administration Event 1st Place Cluster Exam, 1st Place Role Play
– Andrew Porter of Mattapoisett, 2024 Principles of Business Management and Administration Event 2nd Place Cluster Exam/2nd Place Role Play
– Emerson Gonet of Fairhaven, 2025 Principles of Business Management and Administration Event 3rd Place Cluster Exam
– Caitlin Collier of Mattapoisett, 2023 Personal Financial Literacy 2nd Place Role Play
– Brooke Hammond of Acushnet, 2022 Sports and Entertainment Marketing Series Event 3rd Place Cluster Exam
– Brendan Burke of Marion, 2022 Sports and Entertainment Marketing Series Event 3rd Place Role Play
– Rachael Fantoni of Marion, 2021 Sports and Entertainment Marketing Series Event 2nd Place Cluster Exam
– Meghan Horan of Mattapoisett, 2021 Sports and Entertainment Marketing Team Decision Making Event 2nd Place Role Play
– Raegan Rapoza of Marion, 2021 Sports and Entertainment Marketing Team Decision Making Event 2nd Place Role Play
– Jack Pepin of Marion, 2022 Marketing Management Team Decision Making Event 2nd Place Role Place
– Tyler Trudeau of Carver, 2022 Marketing Management Team Decision Making Event 2nd Place Role Play
– Edward Gonet of Fairhaven , 2022 Human Resources MAnagement Series Event 1st Place Cluster Exam
– Mack Wilson of Mattapoisett , 2022 Hospitality Services and Team Decision Making Event 2nd Place Role Play
– David Ditata of Rochester, 2022 Hospitality Services and Team Decision Making Event 2nd Place Role Play
– Theodore Carroll of Fairhaven, 2023 Hotel and Lodging Management Series Event 1st Place Role Play
– Emily DellaCioppa of Mattapoisett, 2022 Integrated Marketing Campaign Event 1st Place Cluster Exam
– Kinsley Trout of Rochester, 2022 Integrated Marketing Campaign Event 2nd Place Cluster Exam
– Tiago Duarte of Rochester, 2022 Integrated Marketing Campaign Event 3rd Place Cluster Exam
– Sarah Wyman of Marion, 2023 Business Services Marketing Series Event 1st Place Cluer Exam/ 2nd Place Role Play
– Samuel Harris of Marion , 2022 Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making Event 2nd Place Cluster Exam
– Sean Lund of Rochester, 2022 Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making Event 2nd Place Role Play
– Colin Carroll of Marion, 2023 Automotive Services Marketing Series Event 2nd Place Cluster Exam / 2nd Place Role Play
– John Kassabian of Mattapoisett , 2022 Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making Exent 2nd Place Role Play/3rd Place Cluster Exam
– Marc Pothier of Mattapoisett, 2022 Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making Exent 2nd Place Role Play
– Top 7 Scorers Moving Onto States!
– Hannah Furtado of Rochester, 2022 Innovation Plan 1st Place
– Taylor Green of Rochester, 2022 Innovation Plan 1st Place
– Caitlin Collier of Mattapoisett, 2023 Personal Financial Literacy 3rd Place
– Rachael Fantoni of Marion, 2021 Sports and Entertainment Marketing Series 3rd Place
– Brooke Hammond of Acushnet , 2022 Sports and Entertainment Marketing Series 5th Place
– Meghan Horan of Mattapoisett, 2021 Sports and Entertainment TDME 3rd Place
– Raegan Rapoza of Marion, 2021 Sports and Entertainment TDME 3rd Place
– Tessa Winslow of Rochester, 2025 Sports and Entertainment TDME 5th Place
– Jocelyn Pires of Rochester, 2025 Sports and Entertainment TDME 5th Place
– Aidan Harrington of Mattapoisett, 2022 Restaurant and Food Service Management Event 7th Place
– Jack Pepin of Marion, 2022 Marketing Management TDME 2nd Place
– Tyler Trudeau Carver, 2022 Marketing and Management TDME 2nd Place
– Edward Gonet of Fairhaven, 2022 Human Resources and Management Series Even 2nd Place
– David Ditata of Rochester, 2022 Hospitality Services TDME 5th Place
– Mackenzie Wilson of Mattapoisett, 2022 Hospitality Services TDME 5th Place
– Isabella Hunter of Rochester, 2022 Hospitality Series TDME 6th Place
– Theodore Jacobsen of Mattapoisett Hospitality Services TDME 6th Place
– Theodore Carroll of Fairhaven, 2023 Hotel and Lodging 4th Place
– Delaney Chase of Rochester, 2025 Principle of Hospitality and Tourism 4th Place
– Emily DellaCioppa of Mattapoisett, 2022 Integrated Marketing Campaign 1st Place
– Tiago Duarte of Rochester, 2022 Integrated Marketing Campaign 1st Place
– Kinsley Trout of Rochester, 2022 Integrated Marketing Campaign 1st Place
– Samuel Harris of Marion, 2022 Entrepreneurship TDME 3rd Place
– Sean Lund of Rochester, 2022 Entrepreneurship TDME 3rd Place
– Drew Mastovsky of Marion, 2022 Entrepreneurship TDME 4th Place
– Lukas Michaelis of Rochester, 2022 Entrepreneurship TDME 4th Place
– Colin Carroll of Marion, 2023 Automotive Services Marketing Series 2nd Place
– John Kassabian of Mattapoisett, 2022 Buying and Merchandising TDME 2nd Place
– Marc Pothier of Mattapoisett, 2022 Buying and Merchandising TDME 2nd Place
– Kira Sakarati of Marion, 2023 Apparel and Accessories Marketing Series 3rd Place
– Theo Jacobson of Mattapoisett, 2024 Principles of Business Management and Administration Event 1st Place
– Andrew Porter of Mattapoisett, 2024 Principles of Business Management and Administration Event 2nd Place
– Jackson Veugen , 2024 Principles of Business Management and Administration Event 4th Place
– Emerson Gonet of Fairhaven, 2025 Principles of Business Management and Administration Event 6th Place
*TDME: Team Decision Making Event