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The Official Student News Site of Parkway West High

Pathfinder

The Official Student News Site of Parkway West High

Pathfinder

The Official Student News Site of Parkway West High

Pathfinder

Playing an informative video about DECA competitions, sophomore Eiley Minich leads the first DECA meeting of the year. Like Minich, senior Tenley Dollarhide is a member of DECA. “I think [DECA is ] important because they provide good personal experiences that relate to your career. I want to do business so I can get actual experience in doing marketing projects, competing with other business students [and] presenting things with an actual business person as a judge. I think it's important to make them more inclusive, because we want to have a diverse population. You need people with different perspectives to bring their perspectives to the table and talk about what people like them they need,” Dollarhide said.

Opportunity…with a price tag

Yein Ahn, Editor-In-Chief December 19, 2025

Standing before a panel of expert judges, a student confidently presents a new marketing plan, highlighting economic strategies and visuals that have been curated after months of preparation. Their teammates...

Smiling with Parkway North seniors Sarah Ham and Alison Lam (second and third from right), eight West state qualifiers hold up the iconic DECA symbol. The program has connected over 7,000 high schoolers, giving students the opportunity to network and expand their social circle. “Getting along with people that might be different from you is the most important part of DECA. You learn things about people that you originally wouldn't talk to, and it's nice to know how to work with other people [as well as] make new friends in a different area,” junior Laya Krishnakumar said. Courtesy of Laya Krishnakumar

Entrepreneurial endeavors

Triya Gudipati, Editor-in-Chief April 8, 2024

From March 3-5, 13 students traveled to Kansas City, Mo. to compete in the DECA State Conference. Throughout the days, competitors participated in events ranging from Hospitality and Lodging Management...

DECA students (left) stand shoulder to shoulder, wearing their blazers. Meanwhile, band students (center) pose before “The Bean”and journalism students (right) show off an award from their conference in San Francisco. “It was a lot of fun because we were a small group, which meant we had a lot of say in decisions of where we eat and go to do stuff,” junior and DECA competitor Suraiya Saroar said. (graphic made by Claire Creely, photo by Kelly Kennedy [left], photo by Lacy Roberts [middle], and photo by Debra Klevens [right])

Conventions, competitions and clinics

Claire Creely, Staff Writer May 26, 2023

Over the past few weeks, students have traveled all over the country. Distributive Education Club of America (DECA) students went to Orlando, Fla. to compete in the DECA International Career Development...

Senior Joseph Denklau and juniors Derrien Gatchel and Matt Freedman stand in front of the Olympic Rings in Olympic Park. They stayed in the Atlanta, Ga.'s heart, allowing them to attend a variety of local events and visit tourist attractions. “We walked everywhere. We started the first night walking 1.5 miles to Waffle House because Matt put in the wrong location for our order. It sounds like an inconvenience, but honestly, that showed us where everything around the city was since it’s all relatively close together. It set off the trip with a good feel of the city,” Gatchel said.

Welcome to Atlanta, DECA Internationals

Makinsey Drake, Staff Writer June 2, 2022

After placing in the top five in their sectors at Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) State, juniors Derrien Gatchel and Matt Freedman and senior Joseph Denklau traveled to Atlanta, Ga., to...