DECA and Entrepreneurism Consortium

Story by Ann Houston

Four CareerTech marketing educators received the Kauffman Foundation Scholarship Award to attend the 22nd Annual Entrepreneurship Education Forum, sponsored by the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education held in San Antonio.

They are, from the left: Jenni Johnson, Tri-County Technology Center, Bartlesville; Irene Runnels, Cache High School; Stacey Oakley, Latta High School. Belinda Jolley, Moore High School is not pictured.

Oklahoma’s marketing education programs, with 6,000 students enrolled, are located on 60 high school and technology center campuses across Oklahoma. Each program has an entrepreneurship component.

“The forum focused on training instructors to incorporate the recently released national content standards for entrepreneurship education,” said Lettie Dilbeck. “The standards describe what an individual needs to know and be able to do in order to start, operate and grow a successful business.”

Dilbeck, retired from the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education in Jan. as the marketing education program specialist and DECA state advisor. She was also recognized as an outgoing member of the Entrepreneurship Education Consortium Board of Directors.

DECA is the national CareerTech marketing education student organization. The Kauffman Foundation and DECA, Inc. are two of 11 members of the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education.

The consortium is a national organization for leaders advocating entrepreneurship education. Other consortium members include: The Coleman Foundation; Ohio Council on Economic Education; the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship; Junior Achievement, Inc.; Family, Career and Community Leaders of America; Making Cents, Inc., MarkEd/Career Paths Resource Center; and CFED/REAL Enterprises.