News and Announcements

WOW! What a three-day adventure our DECA chapter had at the DECA State Championships!

We opened up the championships on Sunday by being recognized as the fastest-growing chapter in the state with more new members than anyone, as well as having an astonishing 51% of our high school student body participating in DECA! Our record-breaking attendance at SCDC was also recognized by Oregon DECA. It was very exciting to see the kid's enthusiasm and appreciation for the recognition of all of their hard work right from the get-go!

Monday meant role play events and competition time! Dressed to impress, charm and show off that Cavalier swag, our kiddos headed off to the many large ballroom venues to prep, think, strategize and then face their judges! It was fun to see them return to our CAVS Lounge and tell their stories of their experiences, the strategies they employed, which judges scared them, and which ones they felt they connected with!

After a day of tough competition, we gathered for our chapter dinner. Adorned in our DECA swag, the event took on a slightly formal tone as we enjoyed each other’s company, told more stories of the day, enjoyed a good meal, and did a few presentations, including recognizing our Super Bowl 100 Square Game winners (Max Q, Claire R, and Asher F.). We also took a moment to thank our chaperones for all they do to support our DECA chapter!

With a handful of kids recognized at Monday evening's recognition ceremony, the anticipation and excitement grew for Tuesday to be our very own Super Tuesday! And it was! With 28 kids recognized on stage Tuesday night and many automatically qualifying for the national championships (ICDC in Anaheim, CA), CAVS DECA showed up and showed out! Whether individual, team, or project-based events, hardly a moment went by without the beloved sound of “and from Blanchet Catholic….” ringing in our ears and our kids running for the stage while their classmates roared in support! But two special recognitions were particularly noteworthy.

Max Quintero won a statewide competition to design a new logo for Oregon DECA! Competing against hundreds of kids from across the state and a handful of finalists, the 1,000-plus students in attendance gave their input on all of the designs during the vendor fair at SCDC, and Max’s design was chosen as champion! His design will be used by the Oregon ICDC contingent headed to Anaheim in late April for the national championships as well as for further Oregon DECA matters going into the future! What an accomplishment!

Additionally, our very own Tanveer Singh signed off as President of Oregon DECA at the closing ceremony with an incredibly impressive speech, and his two-year tenure as Oregon DECA President is coming to a close. As usual, Tanveer handled it with his well-mannered grace and charm. We are proud of the reputation he built for himself and Blanchet Catholic along the way. He has been nothing short of an impeccable ambassador and stately representative for Oregon and BCS!

In closing, I wanted to thank all of you for supporting our student’s participation in DECA. From learning interview skills to strengthening their public speaking, critical thinking, creativity, and teamwork abilities, the students take home an incredible experience and life skills that will serve them well forever.

Finally, please join me in a huge thank you to our DECA Officers team (Emily Barnett, Holden Prine, Max Quintero, Tanveer Singh, Bill Riecke, Brooklyn Ries, Grace Weber, Joe Beyer, Franchesca Ruiz Romero and Josh Mosar (along with their families) for all of the behind the scenes work they do to ensure a well organized, positive experience, for all of our students in DECA. They are nothing short of incredible!

Written by Club Advisor: Mr. Mark Risen

Blanchet's DECA mission statement is “to give all members the ability to grow in an honest and challenging environment.”  DECA is primarily a co-curricular activity where students learn to conduct marketing research projects, promotion plans, and start-up businesses, and encounter realistic workplace challenges.  The experience-based activities require students to use both basic and higher academic skills such as writing, math, economics, social science, communication, presentation, research, and data analysis.

The pinnacle of Oregon DECA is the State Career Development Conference (SCDC).  Nearly 1,000 students from all over Oregon attend to compete for an opportunity to advance to the International Career Development Conference (ICDC).  Aside from competition, this three-day conference includes many networking opportunities, leadership sessions, and a chance to create lasting friendships among chapter members.

Reaching a membership milestone this year with 72 Cavaliers in Blanchet's DECA chapter, the students underwent a season of practices and a district competition held at Blanchet to prepare them for the state competition. Blanchet then took our largest contingent ever, over 49 students, to the 3-day DECA SCDC conference in Portland.  At the state championships, six of our students earned guaranteed spots at ICDC; they are Tanveer Singh, Nhi Huynh, Paola Diaz-Hermosillo, Holden Prine, Max Quintero, and Koren Ickes-Amend.  Blanchet's Community Outreach Project, The Open Minded Project, led by Paola, Tanveer, and Nhi, earned a first-place spot that will take them to ICDC!  Holden Prine and Max QUintero also stood atop the podium with their business development project for a total of five Cavalier state champions at this year's SCDC!

More honors were also earned as twenty Cavaliers finished in the top 10 in the state of Oregon in their respective competitions, ten Cavaliers placed 4th through 8th in their events and were honored with a medal, and thirty-eight placed in the top 25 competitors for their event(s) at SCDC!  Over twenty Blanchet students placed in multiple events and eight new Cavalier DECA members placed in their principle (novice) events!

Additionally, thirteen Cavaliers qualified for nationals and will attend ICDC from April 21 to 26 in Orlando, Florida.  The Cavalier contingent to Florida includes Elisabeth Fromwiller, Abby Webber, Holden Prine, Max Quintero, Claire Raffensperger, Raquelle Hendrix, Ben Alley, Nhi Huynh, Carter Mucken, Tanveer Singh, Brooklyn Ries, Grace Weber, and Koren Ickes-Amend.

We are also very proud to announce that Blanchet junior, Tanveer Singh, was re-elected as Oregon DECA"s President for 2023-2024.  Oregon DECA officers are elected by their peers at SCDC and represent Oregon's membership.  The State Officer team develops a program of work aligned to the strategic goals of DECA.    Throughout the year, the team interacts with the membership to implement and enhance DECA programs. Congratulations to Tanveer as he represents Blanchet and the DECA community in this role!

On November 10, after the school’s celebration of the annual Veterans Mass, current teacher and veteran Mark Risen honored his colleague Sherrie Bashaw with a military unit “challenge” coin.  Military units give these out for rising to challenges, recognition for achievements, upon departing a unit, etc.  Sherrie was honored with a coin from Mark’s last unit, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing. Mark offered many reasons Sherrie deserved the challenge coin including, “She is always selflessly serving behind the scenes.” Selfless service is a core military value.

Here are just a few examples of things that Sherrie does to support Blanchet’s students, staff and her community:  She makes and delivers cupcakes for every student on their birthday; she organizes the collection and washing of shoes for the 1000 Soles program and helps kids affected by homelessness;  she and her leadership class decorate the halls with posters of support for all the sports teams and activities as well as create tags for all the students who participate in sports, activities and fine arts; she advises the Students for Change Club and spends hours doing random act of kindness at Blanchet and in the community; she retired from coaching volleyball but has volunteered her time every season since to help the program continue to succeed; she works with kids to send encouragement cards to one another throughout the year; she started and organizes the annual Veterans Mass and Blue Mass honoring other selfless servants in our community; and the list goes on and on.
 
Mark said, “I felt her selfless service, let alone the fact that it was our Veterans Day Mass and she was the choreographer (once again), was the perfect setting to give her the challenge coin.” In his presentation, Mark asked each student to stand if they had been on the receiving end of Sherrie’s selfless service.  The gym was filled with applause as students stood to celebrate a well deserved recognition for an amazing teacher and role model. 

Blanchet's National Honor Society members will be hosting a blood drive with the American Red Cross at Blanchet on Tuesday, November 29.  If you would like to  donate blood, please contact Stephanie Razmus to get scheduled.