A big part of the high school experience was participating in extracurricular activities. There were a variety of groups that students were able to participate in. Through them, there was an opportunity to meet new people and explore interests that could open up a whole new world of possibilities for your future. Business academy sophomore Isaac Moore (10) indulges in a few of these groups and has done exceptional work in representing our school in each of them.

“I participate in quite a few activities throughout the school,” Moore said. “I’m in DECA, Chess Club, GSA, and Dungeons & Dragons club. I like participating in Dungeons & Dragons and DECA. Dungeons & Dragons is just a way to have fun and have imagination and creativity. Then DECA is just a good way to just help out. Helping out with service hours and just getting a better understanding of business.”

As a part of DECA, Moore had the opportunity to participate in district competitions, which consisted of business related tests and role-plays.

“I went to many districts, and I got a third place medal for Principles of Finance,” Moore said. “Then I went to more districts and I got four medals, I got a medal for my tests and both role plays for it and then I got a little plastic plaque for getting third place in principles of finance.”

Moore went in depth about the competition and what the requirements were to participate in districts.

“Basically what it is, in DECA districts you are given your P.I’s, or point-indicators you have to hit, and so you have to study those,” Moore said. “Point-Indicators is just a business term. For example it would be how you respond to customer questions or something like that. And so you study the examples of it and you’re going to do a role-play basically. You’re going to be given a situation such as, you’re a manager at a company and you’re trying to solve a problem that a customer has or something like that. You have to respond to the judge, who would roleplay as customer or your boss, and you have to go through a question or helping them out with something. You have to hit your point indicators as well as just showing creativity, being confident and asking questions.”

Having to perform in front of an audience could be frightening for some, but Moore had a different take on the district roleplays and tests.

“When you are studying for them, they seem kind of frightening, but in the moment of actually doing it, I feel like its super exciting,” he said. “You study for your point indicators, you get ready for roleplaying, and then you study business related terms for the test that you do.”

District roleplays had a dress code for all the competitors.

“It would be like how you would go for an actual interview,” Moore said. “You would wear dress pants, a dress shirt, a tie and some dress shoes. It’s just dressing for the part that you’re playing.”

Apart from participating in DECA, Moore engaged in one other business related activity. He helped manage the school store and played an important role on the staff.

“Hawk Shop is honestly pretty amazing,” Moore said. “Its a student led shop, and we stock food, drinks, clothes and stuff, for people to shop for. For this year it’s between 4B and 5B Lunch, and everyone has jobs. There is the inventory team, the ordering team, and the advertisement team. At first I was floater, helping out wherever I could, but now I am on the ordering team. I have to look at the different items that we have, and I have to see which are allowed to be sold. Then we will place an order for it, and it will come in.”

Moore’s interest in the business world did not come out of nowhere. He had a talent with numbers along with his fathers work serve as inspiration to achieve his goal to get involved in the business world.

“I joined the Business Academy because my father is an accountant and I have always found math really easy,” Moore said. “I was just thinking that the Business academy was a good choice for me, and since we have a school store, I wanted to work there. I am in the finance pathway. Its a lot with numbers and stuff. Its just a lot of tedious work but when you understand it, its not that hard. You just have to go through the process of it.”