Dress Down for Change

In Mr. Maki’s DECA class, students are challenged to start a business that benefits the community. Sophomores Ella Bast and Lauren Chaisson decided to incorporate a charity into their project that is special to them. Bast said, “We wanted to do something that is personal to both of us and so we thought of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Because my sister has diabetes, we wanted to do something with that.” Chaisson added, “We wanted to raise awareness at the high school because not a lot of people know about Type 1 Diabetes and that people are affected by it in the school.”

Bast and Chaisson stated that about forty teachers are actively involved in the project. Bast explained, “We call it Beat Diabetes, so there are two parts–we held a raffle last month with a few prizes. Now we are doing dress for a change with teachers now where they pay $3 each Wednesday and get to wear casual clothes, and they wear a bracelet.” Dress Down for Change, which goes on for four weeks, started during the last week of November and goes through the month of December. When asked if the project would become an annual fundraiser, Bast and Chaisson glowed as they shared their excitement at the possibility.

Bast and Chaisson both added that Mr. Maki’s DECA class “is really fun if you want to do a project like this.” The students added, “This is where you get to start a business of your own.”