The famous Otis Cookies are a Berkley High School staple. The chocolate chip and sugar cookies are the perfect $1 dessert. But we would not have these amazing cookies without the hardworking students in Advanced Marketing. This class is for third-year marketing students, who have completed both first-level marketing and sports marketing. And while we know these students as the producers of our favorite cookies, they do so much more than that.
First and foremost, Advanced Marketing students run our school store, The Bear. Senior and DECA President Francesca Haley explained that they “work at the cash register and make the OTIS cookies”. She adds that they also “work on what is actually in the store, like the merchandise. We vote on what should go into the store, design it, and place the orders.” All of the beautiful Berkley merchandise–from pajamas, pants, shirts, and sweatshirts—is chosen and created by our fellow Berkley students! On top of all of this, they are making the cookies and coffee while manning the register during lunch everyday!
But, this is not their only job. These students run pop-up shops at sporting events and parent-teacher conferences. They also create promotional campaigns for the school. Senior and DECA Vice President Hailey Serlin shared that recently they “made pink out shirts for a pink out game which raised money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.” If this wasn’t impressive enough, they hand make the merchandise for these events! Serlin explained that in the Marketing classroom, “We have a Cricut. So on the computer we create our design and then we print it off the Cricut onto vinyl. Then we cut the vinyl out and put it on our T-shirts that we order. And then we have a t-shirt press, so you press a button and it does it itself.” They do this process to create everything at pop-up shops and campaigns! And it does not stop here; Advanced Marketing students are starting to work on a can drive!
Along with all of this, Advanced Marketing Students work year-long on their DECA projects. Haley explained DECA as a “Business competition that focuses on the marketing of different areas in the business world.” There are many different categories, like finance, entrepreneurship, tourism, hospitality, and more. Within these subjects there are different competitive events. One category many participate in is role play. Haley states this is “like a story problem, where you act like a marketing executive in front of judges”. There is also a written event, which is a comprehensive report paired with a 15-minute presentation to a judge. Serlin and Haley compete in the written category; their project is a 50-page recertification of the store, which Haley explains as “writing a report on everything that has to do with the store, from finance, human resources, the operations, and more.” Advanced Marketing students also design and print shirts for all marketing students participating in DECA.
When I asked what they do in Advanced Marketing, Senior and DECA VP of Social Affairs Rikki Newman remarked “Everything”. As we can see, she was not joking! From running the store, creating merchandise, certifying the store, working on DECA, and running school wide promotional campaigns, these students do it all!
