Farragut doesn’t necessarily have a business program within its curriculum but if Shawn Simon ’17 continues exerting his passionate influence, things might soon change.

He has generated excitement within the student body at Farragut by introducing and helping form two clubs on campus that are centered around business and have chapters throughout the world:

DECA, which is an international association of high school and college students and teachers, was created in 1946 – and originally known as Distributive Education Clubs of America – as a way for students to prepare themselves in leadership roles in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.

Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), which is the largest career student organization in the world, according to its website. The mission is “to bring business and education together in a positive working relationship through innovative leadership and career development programs.”

“He’s been incredibly enthusiastic about what he wants to do,” said Mr. Stephen Mikell, who has taken on the task of being advisor for both clubs. “He had participated in these clubs at his previous high school and he came to me about starting the clubs. There has been a great response by the other students and I can only see this getting bigger and better.”

The Farragut students in DECA besides Shawn include: Trevor Bennatti ‘17, Sasha DeSilva ‘16, George Dyche ‘16, Zach Fine ‘17, Elizabeth Gaskins ‘16, Matthew Hajek ‘17, Stephen Mikell, Jr. ‘19, Jack Seabrook ‘16, and John Winters ‘16, who all competed at the district tournament in Tampa in January.

Trevor, Zach, Matthew, Stephen, and John advanced in the individual portion of the competition and will compete at the state tournament in March in Orlando. Zach and Trevor, who came up with marketing strategies to help boost television ratings as a part of their res