By Omar Thabet – YAN
Earlier this month Hamtramck High School’s DECA Chapter was recognized and awarded a trip to Nationals which will take place in Orlando, Florida from April 22nd-25th.
According to Hamtramck High School’s Marketing teacher and DECA Advisor Rula Bilbeisi, the DECA chapter at Hamtramck High allows students to focus on developing essential business skills in real scenarios and contexts they would experience outside of school, while developing their leadership capabilities.
Naser Karim (left), Amy Panczysyzn (middle), and Farisa Zarin (right), were awarded the Chapter Award for Hamtramck High School’s DECA Program. Photo by George Hloros
Bilbeisi also added that the (DECA) students are highly involved in organizing meetings and becoming leaders by taking on initiatives to create activities around the school and community to support their work at DECA.
Bilbeisi has been the DECA Advisor for 15 years. Her role in the program has been to guide students through the process of competing in DECA events and introducing the different DECA programs that students can participate in.
Bilbeisi’s current partner, George Hloros, is DECA’s Co-Advisor and has been apart of the DECA program now for six years.
Hloros is also a social studies teacher at Hamtramck High School.
When asked what will the students be doing at the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) in Florida later this month, Hloros said, “We will be competing to win a national award as well as attending various seminars and conferences which will help our students grow even further.”
This is your 2022-2023 Hamtramck High School DECA Chapter Team.
Photo by George Hloros
Selection Process
According to Hloros, Hamtramck High School was selected to attend the ICDC because three of their members, Naser Karim, Amy Panczysyzn, and Farisa Zarin, took on the huge task of putting together their “Chapter Award”.
“The chapter award is a summary of all of the things our DECA chapter does in our school and community,” Hloros said. “It includes things like meeting with local entrepreneurs, reading to elementary schools in our district, working with local charities, community clean ups, and so much more,” Hloros added.
Three of Hamtramck High School’s DECA programs other students are attending due to their hard work at their school store—known as an SBE (School Based Enterprise). Tasmi Chowdhury and Christian Floyd, who serve as co-presidents of DECA’s chapter, as well as their chapter Historian, Syeda Khatun, worked tirelessly to create a write up that highlighted all of the factors that made our school store so successful.
We asked Tasmi Chowdhury, who is a 12th grader at Hamtramck High School and is also the Co-President of the DECA Chapter, what will she and her team be doing at the ICDC in Florida? She said, “We will be giving a presentation to judges in hopes to receive a plaque (and have fun at Disney World).”
The diversity of Hamtramck High School’s DECA Chapter is what makes most students and staff proud about this team.
Photo by George Hloros
Proud Moment for HHS
Being able to compete for nationals against other schools across the country is something all students, and staff, in the DECA Chapter can hope and dream of.
When we asked Bilbeisi what made her most proud about the program, she said, “The support from all of the staff at Hamtramck High School. The students have relationships with many of the teachers, who they always reach out to for support as they work through their projects, which allows them to keep growing and learning. The staff at Hamtramck High School motivate our students and help them as much as possible. It is this sort of teamwork and an environment of collaboration built at the school that helps the students achieve great results.”
Mr. Hloros said what makes him most proud about the DECA program is, “To see a group of students from various backgrounds and capabilities gain confidence in themselves and grow as individuals. We are so very proud to watch our exceptional young adults grow into leaders in not just the building but leaders in the community. Moreover, we have heard countless stories from former DECA members out in the real world telling us just how valuable their time with our program was.”
Tasmi Chowdhury said what makes her most proud about the DECA program is, “The diversity of our group. Even at the state level competition we received numerous compliments regarding our team spirit and diversity.”
Tasmi later added, “As for the future, I hope that it shows HHS students that anyone is capable of making it to states and even ICDC. Hopefully it encourages underclassmen to take initiative to join DECA.”
Advisor Rula Bilbeisi closed out the interview by saying, “The students are the ones who really make the program a true success. Thank you to the DECA Board who made this 2022-2023 a great year. As the DECA slogan says for this year: “Get the Edge”. The students shined through and did just that.”
From all of us at The Yemeni American News we want to congratulate Hamtramck High School’s DECA Chapter for reaching Nationals. Good luck and continue to make the city of Hamtramck proud!
