Sparta DECA Team partners with Lakeland Bank

SPARTA — Sparta High School seniors Rushi Patel and Chase LeBeau were among the nearly 80 students from the school who competed at the NJ State Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) competition in Cherry Hill. The Sparta High School DECA Chapter received more than 30 awards and won 22 spots at the International Career Development Conference in Anaheim, Cali.

“Patel and LaBeau worked with Lakeland Bank to conduct their study to understand the changing face of the marketplace in relation to internet technology,” said Donna Smith, DECA Advisor.

With the support of Lakeland Bank CEO Thomas Shara and under the guidance of the Bank’s Marketing Director Maureen Martin, the students analyzed data collected through surveys and in-depth research to write a 30 page paper discussing how the internet and social media could improve the standing of Lakeland Bank through its website.

“After reading the DECA presentation, it was evident that Rushi and Chase spent a significant amount of time preparing and analyzing the data for this study,” said Shara. “The quality of their work is of great value to Lakeland Bank’s social media initiatives, and we are proud to have had the opportunity to support them.”

At the competition, Patel and LaBeau gave an oral presentation that covered how they conducted their study, the results from their study, and the strategic plan they would recommend to Lakeland Bank. The team won second place overall in the Finance Operations Research category and will now go to Anaheim to compete for a national award.

DECA is a student organization consisting of 200,000 members from across the United States and from around the world. Students compete in various categories of business including marketing, finance, hospitality, and entrepreneurship demonstrating their skills at competition through written tasks and oral presentations.