Perry Meridian High School offers a plethora of clubs to its students that better prepares them for life after high school. Among the sea of clubs provided in this school is the business and marketing focused club DECA. DECA, Distributive Education Club of America, is advised by business teacher Josh Shaffer. DECA is all about getting students entrepreneurial experience and professional insight outside of the classroom, giving them opportunities they might not otherwise have. “DECA is a great opportunity to learn how to communicate effectively. It gets a lot of people out of their shells,” Shaffer said.

The club is led by senior co-presidents Van Sui Tial Lung Tum and Liam Sullivan. The club emphasizes student leadership leaving the presidents with big responsibilities helping the club run smoothly. “We share a lot of the responsibility of planning, and figuring out the direction of where DECA is going to go,” Sullivan said.

Leadership is an important aspect of business and the opportunity for students to gain that experience in an entrepreneurial role is invaluable. “I want to go into entrepreneurship at IU [Kelley School of Business], which I’m going to… Knowing this is such a prestigious club, where students can participate in community services and learn different skills, is what made me interested,” Lung Tum said.

DECA provides many different avenues for students to learn about business, and PMHS’ newest venture is the Falcon Store.

The Falcon store offers a variety of products. They currently carry spirit wear, snacks, school supplies and other small items for low prices. While providing students with affordable goods, the store allows DECA members to develop

practical business skills.
“Everything is 100% student lead. They determine their shifts, they determine incentives.” Shaffer said. It is up to the members to calculate what is needed to keep the store running.

The influx of cash has kept senior treasurer Selena Li busy. “Prior to opening up the store I didn’t have much of a role because there wasn’t very much money to deal with. But now I help plan out how much of the inventory we’re going to buy, I keep track of the inventory, and along with the help of other officers.”

The long-term goal for the Falcon Store is to continue incorporating other clubs and sports.

The store is open Tuesdays and Fridays during lunch.