Auburn School District No. 408
915 4th Street Northeast, Auburn, WA 98002
05/07/02
NEWS RELEASE
Auburn High School DECA Donates to NYFD
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On Sunday, April 14, a group of Auburn High
School Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) students, along with their
advisor, Jim Burton, traveled to New York City in order to attend a career
conference. This conference focused on teaching the students about
finance, marketing, fashion, and promotion careers. The group was able to
see many sights in New York City and attend many cultural activities. One
of these activities was to visit several different fire stations involved in the
9-11 tragedy and the site of Ground Zero.
The morning of April 17 was entirely
dedicated to a tour of Ground Zero, the World Trade Center disaster area, and to
talking to the many firefighters who participated in the search and rescue as
well as the clean up of the area. The students were actually taken inside
the disaster area by Chief Nicolas Visconti of the New York fire department.
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It was overwhelming to see the
disaster at Ground Zero," said junior, Candyce Brock. DECA member
Jacob Smith said," Visiting Ground Zero was an unforgettable experience.
It broke my heart to remember the people lost in the tragedy."
Another DECA member who was deeply touched
by this sight was junior, Shaun Moore. He became teary-eyed and emotional
during the tour of Ground Zero. A lot of other people who visited the site
had similar reactions to viewing the area.
The AHS DECA teams, advised by Jim Burton
and Derek Enz, had a goal to raise money
and through a great car wash with the Auburn Fire Department they were able to
donate $1,700 to the New York fire department. Mr. Burton
stated that "the car wash was the best in 25 years and it showed DECA's
gratitude and admiration of the men and women who were involved in the horrific
event." Junior, Beth Hooper, said, "The fire fighters were very
touched and grateful that students all the way across the country would care so
much."
"The firefighters had such pride; it
was inspiring," said Alberto Ossenden. Alberto is an exchange student
from Chili, and the New York trip as well as meeting the fire fighters has been
the favorite part of his visit to America.
The DECA trip to New York as well as the
donation from the students further showed how the effects of 9-11 touched the
hearts of people all over the world.
Ashely Swartz and Kayla Pearson, AHS DECA students
