Attention! Form a straight line! Now get out a pen and paper and write this down! It‘s time for boot camp—business boot camp that is.MVDECA hosted its first ever summer boot camp for 75 incoming freshmen from Aug. 8 to Aug.12 in order to expand its membership. Veteran members, officers, and guest-speakers introduced the fundamentals of marketing and DECA competitions to attendees.
According to MVDECA president senior Ansh Shukla, the business boot camp provided the preparation needed for freshmen to understand the ideals of marketing.
Adviser and business teacher Carl Schmidt originally proposed the idea of a summer program at one of the club’s weekly Saturday study sessions last year; the officers followed through by contacting middle schools and parents, purchasing necessary materials, and planning the curriculum.
Organizing the first of its kind in the nation, officers struggled with attaining a venue, balancing the curriculum and engaging middle school students. Furthermore, Harker and San Mateo High School’s DECA chapters, which hope to increase their club membership as well, observed MVDECA’s activities.
The officers had about two weeks to put together presentations as a way of informing parents and students of Lawson Middle School and Kennedy Middle School of the upcoming camp. The boot camp was just introduced in the district so provoking interest in a short amount of time was a challenge as well.
Incoming freshmen mostly worked in groups in order to learn the importance of interaction in business amongst different people. The students practiced presentations, speeches and role-playing—preparation that will aid them in future competitions and conventions by improving communication skills. For example, they practiced how to network with business professionals by giving Elevator Pitches, where students define a product in a short simple summary. To become better speakers they played Speech Baseball, where students were put on the spot and had to describe a topic without saying the words “like”or “um”.
“The incoming freshmen who attend [business boot camp] will get a head start for competition in DECA and activities relevant to business world,” Director of Entrepreneurship junior Apurv Gandhi said.
Guest speakers from the California State Board of Education and the DECA International Board of Directors informed attendees about leadership and business. For deeper insight into start-up companies students read Guy Kawasaki’s novel “The Art of the Start”. Kawasaki was a chief evangelist to Apple Inc.
Throughout the week, venture capitalists judged the students’ Powerpoint presentations using the same standards for professional business pitches, just as they would do in an actual DECA competition.
“I really feel that because I’m doing this camp, I will really improve my skills in business and that I will continue making progress,” freshman Divya Lakshmanan said.
The boot camp came to a close on Aug. 12 with an awards ceremony and a dance hosted by officers as a way of celebrating their achievements.
“A lot of the kids I talked to said they are having fun,” Shukla said. “That may sound like something small, but that’s actually one of the most important things.”
The complete itinerary of this year’s business boot camp can be accessed here.
