Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Deca Program Makes Leaders Of Two EV Seniors

Glenn Bewick, an East Valley High School senior, joined DECA after a lifetime of soaking up knowledge from his family’s businesses.

Not so classmate Jon Lavasseur. He joined the marketing program due to a scheduling glitch. “I got stuck in here by accident. But I really liked it,” Lavasseur said with a quick grin.

In four years of DECA, the two seniors have grown into the leaders of an East Valley program that develops national competitors almost every year.

They serve as teaching assistants for DECA teacher John Savage. Along with senior Staci Haye, they manage the school store, riding herd on the younger students as they sell candy bars, chips and endless bottles of 7-Up. Sometimes, they go through 25 cases of 7-Up in a week.

Both seniors are clear about their future: business.

Bewick hopes to enter Washington State University’s business program. Lavasseur will take classes at Eastern Washington University and Spokane Community College.

“It’s really helped me prepare for college,” Bewick said. And he landed a summer job at Footlocker in large part because of his DECA experience, he said.

Lavasseur works at landscaping with his father during summers. He enjoys the work and meeting new people. And while the bookwork in the first two years of DECA wasn’t a breeze, the hands-on work in the third and fourth years has been fun, he said.

Lots of the hands-on work happens at the DECA store.

The school store at East Valley opens three times a day. Each session a different DECA class is in charge. The second year class takes on the 10-minute session during morning break. The more advanced students handle a half-hour session at each of two lunches.

For the young customers out front, the DECA store is a quick, inexpensive way to a snack and drink.

But the students who run the store learn about ordering and stocking merchandise, about finding the best deal with their vendors, about counting change and keeping their cool with customers.

“I call it my training station,” Savage said.

Bewick and Lavasseur are clear about the strengths of their store. Bewick ticks them off: “We have a pretty nice set-up in our store. We have virtually no theft,” he said. Plus, the cash registers are computerized.

On the down side, demand sometimes overwhelms the store’s two cash registers. “Another till would be nice,” said Lavasseur.

Come to school, y’all

Central Valley School District is inviting the community to come to school on Tuesday for the district’s third annual open house. Community members are welcome to observe classes throughout the school day.

About 700 people visited the district’s 22 schools during last year’s open house. There are no special programs. Instead the day is billed as “a chance to see what schools actually look like in normal operation,” said Skip Bonuccelli, district spokesman.

Diversity Week at EV

Next week, a group called PRIDE - for Personal Responsibility in Diversity and Education - is trying to focus East Valley High School’s attention on the need to end racism and prejudice.

PRIDE, which has about 15 members, will survey students about issues of racism at school. They will show videos about solutions to racism and play.

One day, the students will also wear colored armbands and have access only to restrooms, drinking fountains and cafeteria tables marked with the same color, said PRIDE member Paul Warfield, a sophomore.

Speaker Rev. Happy Watkins will appear at the School on Jan. 17. Each year, Watkins delivers Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech at several Spokane high schools.

Crissy Vaughn, a sophomore and member of PRIDE, said the group hopes to compile its survey results by the following week.

EV Cougar quilt

The special Cougar-Rose Bowl quilt made by East Valley High School parents sold for a high bid of $444.44.

Quilt auction organizer Janet Kirsch said a South Hill resident bought the quilt as a Valentine’s Day surprise for her husband, who is a second-generation Washington State University graduate.

The money will help students with extra expenses in a humanities class.

, DataTimes MEMO: The Education Notebook is the spot The Valley Voice devotes to telling our community about students’ accomplishments, about learning in classrooms across the Valley. Teachers or parents whose students have earned honors, feel free to toot your horn. Contact Marny Lombard at the Valley Voice, 13208 E. Sprague, Spokane, WA 99216. Call: 927-2166. Fax: 927-2175. E-mail: MarnyL@spokesman.com

The Education Notebook is the spot The Valley Voice devotes to telling our community about students’ accomplishments, about learning in classrooms across the Valley. Teachers or parents whose students have earned honors, feel free to toot your horn. Contact Marny Lombard at the Valley Voice, 13208 E. Sprague, Spokane, WA 99216. Call: 927-2166. Fax: 927-2175. E-mail: MarnyL@spokesman.com