Junior Mitch Mankoff is appointed as the new DECA president for the 2010-2011 school year.
Photo by Mia Nogueira
Mitch Mankoff is kind of a big deal.
He’s a Taurus, and it is said that a Tauruses make excellent directors and have good business intuition. Mitch has a GPA of 4.7, and is ranked fourth in his class. He’s a baseball and basketball player, a member of the National Honor Society and a captain of his baseball team. “What do Barak Obama and Mitch Mankoff have in common?” asked recent TJ Alumni Scott Bruskin, “They are both presidents of something pretty important, and that’s pretty cool.” To top his list off, Mitch is now the new president of TJ’s very own DECA club.
Mitch Mankoff was born into a family full of businessmen. “My dad, uncle and grandfather own their own insurance company called Manor Insurance Agency,” he said. Both of his older brothers, TJ Alumni Michael and Matthew Mankoff, were members of the DECA club and now are in college studying business. “Michael was the Vice President and Matthew was a Chapter Representative, so neither of them were President,” said Mitch. “My brothers really got me interested in DECA. I saw how much fun they had so it made me want to be a part of the club too,” he said.
As the only junior representative in DECA’s officer team, it seemed obvious that Mankoff would be appointed as president. But Mankoff was not appointed because he was a returning officer, he was appointed on the basis of GPA, desire, and his constituency with the entire chapter. Then the DECA chapter voted and he was appointed to the position. “It’s a huge honor, I was the only returning officer so it was a little expected but it does feel good to know that everyone in DECA thinks I’m qualified to lead the chapter,” he said. “I hope that next year we can get the school more involved with our activities. I hope to lead well, and make it the best chapter yet,” he said.
One of Mankoff’s DECA advisors, Danny Showers, is thrilled to have Mitch as the new leader of the club. “I’m looking for Mitch to produce the ‘trifecta,’ for the DECA organization,” he said. “That means he needs to have a good, solid leadership, new creative opportunities in management for the members in the chapter, and he needs to provide a clear guide path for the officer team to be effective in their jobs,” said Showers.
Last year’s DECA president, TJ Alumni Tommy Moehlman is equally excited to have Mitch lead the DECA organization. “Mitch is really smart. He is well organized and I know he will do well,” said Moehlman. “Be flexible; make sure you communicate with each officer individually so your always on the same page,” Tommy advised Mitch. “I’m deffinitily going to miss talking to the officers after the meetings, and planning the meetings, so I hope Mitch takes advantage of that time,” he said.
In the future, Mitch hopes to attend the University of Colorado in Boulder and major in business. “In ten years I see myself in a mansion with a nice car, being a major business executive and making ‘bank’,” he said.
