In business

Jay County High School’s new club means business.

The DECA group just got started this fall, working to organize and bring back Jay Café. Its members competed for the first time this month.

Now 13 of them are headed to state.

All of the JCHS students who competed at the district level Jan. 16 at Union City earned the top two spot necessary to advance.

Jay County’s business club under the umbrella of DECA — originally Distributive Education Clubs of America — got started with a call-out meeting in early September.

Interest in re-opening Jay Café, the school’s coffee shop, was one of the sparks for the new group. And, business teacher Steve Wickliffe noted, state guidelines encourage all career and technical education programs to have an accompanying club.

“It’s been something that’s been lacking,” said Wickliffe, the club’s advisor, who had been involved in DECA when he taught at Yorktown. “So it’s been something that’s been on my radar since I’ve been here.

“And some kids had approached me about opening our Jay Café. … That was what’s kind of started it.”

The club’s first official event was a tailgate at the final Patriot football game in October.

The group’s members, a total of 31, then worked to open Jay Café in November. That process included both some fun elements — product testing and menu development — and some of the more workmanlike aspects — meeting with school administrators and working out rules — of getting a business started.

The café, which is open each morning in the school’s commons area, has 10 menu items with coffee, iced coffee and hot chocolate and various flavor options.

“Being a part of that is like being able to run and manage a business,” said club president Travis Garringer. “You see the inventory side, the sales, the scheduling.”

Meeting twice a month, the club also worked to prepare for district competition.

That included simply learning what a business competition involved:

•A 100-question test in a specific content area — marketing, management, finance or hospitality

•A roleplay based on the content area, such as coming up with a marketing plan to raise attendance for a Minor League Baseball team

The club members, all of whom have taken either marketing or management classes at JCHS, took practice tests to prepare. (There was also a shopping trip to help out those who didn’t have appropriate business attire.)

Although Garringer had big goals — “Winning,” he said — before the district competition, the newcomers weren’t sure what to expect. Wickliffe tried to manage expectations, saying that simply getting some competition experience would be a good step for the fledgling club.

“This is practice,” he said. “This is our first time.”

Looking back now, he said he’s not surprised at the strong results.

“Our club is blessed with some of the best students and best people in the school,” he said. “They were all a little bit nervous because they’ve never done anything like that before. But I know all of them as being very articulate, able to think pretty well on their feet. That’s a big part. That’s half the competition.”

Hannah Littler, Kinsey Shannon, Abby Benter, Gavin Farmer, Amaan Shah, Maria Dirksen, Demi Grove, Dylan Racster, Miranda Alig, Natalie Miles, Grace Morgan, Erika Heitkamp and Garringer all qualified for the state competition as duos or individuals. They will compete March 1 through 3 in Indianapolis in a format similar to district, but with a second roleplay scenario thrown into the mix.

The three-day event also includes leadership conferences and other activities.

In addition to preparing for state, Wickliffe hopes his club can reach out to local businesses, Portland Rotary Club and Jay County Chamber of Commerce for potential learning experiences.

“We’d like to partner with them as much as possible,” he said. “It’s something we haven’t done yet, but there’s been a lot that’s happened in a short time.”

That’s included a lot of lessons for the club members. On top of that list are the importance of teamwork and the realization of what they can do together.

“I’ve learned that when you have a team to do stuff it’s a whole lot easier than working by yourself,” said Garringer.

“I’ve learned that it’s harder to start a business and a club than it seems, added Littler, the club’s vice president. “I also learned that we’re capable. I didn’t know if we were actually going to start Jay Café, but we did. We’re capable of doing that kind of stuff, which is really cool.”