A joint partnership between the Delaware Area Career Center and Delaware Hayes High School has resulted in a more opportunities for students studying business at Hayes.
Martin Huedepohl, a business teacher and joint instructor at Hayes and DACC, said the business course at Hayes is growing in scale and scope, and allows for a personalized business education for any type of business a student is interested in.
Huedepohl said the business course can actually begin for students in eighth grade while they study at Dempsey Middle School. By the time they are seniors, they can be earning college credit. Huedepohl said the class allows students to choose between a variety of business career paths and the course is built around what is relevant to that path.
For example, Huedepohl said a student focusing on purchasing would have different assignments than a student focusing on supply chain management.
Huedepohl said the course requires business management projects and career research projects to give students more experience about specific business careers. Students can also present research and projects done in class at Business Professionals of America competitions.
Huedepohl said students were required to do research in the library database for the competition and work with language arts teachers to create detailed and informative essays about their chosen topic.
“Not only do I give them research about business but we collaborate with the English teachers to kill two birds with one stone,” Huedepohl said. “We work closely with different departments to facilitate the learning that goes on in the classroom.”
Huedepohl said students were also given lessons in presenting their topics by the public speaking teachers at Hayes.
He said students also graduate the course with a Microsoft Office Specialist Certification, which can reportedly earn an entry-level business professional as much as $16,000 more a year.
“A large percentage of our graduates will end up studying and working in the business world,” said Paul Craft, superintendent for Delaware City Schools. “Expanding opportunities for our students to learn about business while still in high school is a win-win for them. This program has been a great addition to our efforts to set our students up for success after they graduate and go out into the real world.”
This is the fourth year for the program and Huedepohl said they will be adding more courses and opportunities in the future.
“The authentic and real-life assessments that are required in the business class offering provide students an opportunity to demonstrate learning that is transferable to work in the real world,” said Richard Stranges, principal at Hayes High.
