Albuquerque High School’s DECA team recently got a big surprise as the students learn business and marketing skills, a recent KOB 4 report said.
They received help from someone who has been in their shoes.
Jack Humbert, a graduate of Albuquerque High School, donated $10,000 to the school’s DECA program.
"I present to you, this check to Albuquerque High School DECA, in the amount of, I’ll let you read it, $10,000,” Humbert said as he presented the gift.
Humbert helped start the school's DECA program as an advisor years ago. To the kids, his donation means investing in their future.
“I’m just, amazed? Very amazed!” Melody Vega Maldonado, vice president of the DECA team, told KOB 4.
David Garcia, a freshman at Albuquerque High, also expressed his thanks.
“I’m very grateful because that will help us a lot with, like, all the trips, and then the different activities within the chapter," he said.
DECA advisor Ashley Lober noted that DECA trips can cost up to $2,000 per student. But while they are expensive, they're worthwhile.
“We took 17 students this past April to Orlando, Florida, to compete at an international career development conference," Lober told KOB 4. “So there were workshops, there were colleges, they’re recruiting and they got to compete with students from all over the world."
Recently, the school's DECA program took home the national prize for Chapter of the Year and gold-level certification for their in-school snack bar, making the trip extra sweet for them.
“It’s a very great feeling taking home these awards," Maldonado said. "It’s like, ‘You did it, you won something over some of the biggest schools in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho.'"
The students run a fully functional business on campus, according to Lober.
“The kids get to manage inventory, higher balance, handle money, get trained in cash, making change, baking skills," she told KOB 4.
They also learn skills they would not acquire in the regular classes. Garcia said.
"I feel like I was way more shy before this," he said. "Now, I could just like, speak and hopefully be like a leader to people."
The recent donation will provide a chance to help build future entrepreneurs one student at a time, the report said.