Taking orders, making food, conducting finance and learning communication skills are only a few skills students do regularly in the Sales and Marketing classes with Mr. Gapinski.

Right when you walk in everyday, it is a different atmosphere. One day you may need to call and order products, one day you might need to make cookies, and another day you might need to organize and sell shirts in the Spirit Shack. Every day is different, and that it what makes DECA such a practical class.

Rarely in school do students get the opportunity to interact with real business people, or do real business things, but that is what students in DECA are exposed to on a daily basis. Learning how to work a register, count money and dress professionally is what makes DECA such a real-world class for students to take.

Before working my way up in the ranks from DECA 1 to DECA 3, I did not know anything about how businesses work. I knew there was money involved, and that there was work involved, but nothing beyond the basic knowledge a kid can have.

Mr. Gapinski, also known by his students as “G”, prepares his students by teaching them the class material as well as preparing them for competitions.

In those competitions, I have learned to think on the spot, utilize skills learned in the past, and speak and dress professionally.

G makes an environment in DECA that is not like any other class at Liberty. There is a freedom to do your own work, and the responsibility to have to get your work accomplished accurately and timely.

DECA has taught me so much in the field of sales and marketing, and it is because of the class that I am looking into business as a future career. I am extremely thankful for having taken three years of DECA, and for G and the class teaching me a lot about the business field. I would recommend everyone to take DECA for the real world skills it teaches students.