ROSSFORD – Seven years ago, Heather Smith-Nissen would have spent the night before Rossford’s Halloween
parade stressing out over every detail, wondering what she forgot, and praying it wouldn’t rain.
Now, the good-weather prayers may be the only lingering effects from her decision to volunteer her
marketing students at Rossford High School to organize and execute the city’s event.
"I have learned to delegate, though. That way I don’t get so stressed about it," the teacher
shared.
Smith-Nissen, in her second year as the DECA teacher at Rossford High School, decided her class could
take over organizing the city’s Halloween parade after the Rossford Community Service League, the
previous organizer, disbanded.
She recalled she "just had the idea this would be a good event for my marketing students to be
involved with."
While she has never regretted that decision over the past seven years, she laughingly admitted she often
has wondered why she thought it was a good idea.
But now, planning for her eighth parade, "it gets easier for me every year."
Now, it’s the students who stress about it.
Her seniors-only marketing class – most commonly known as DECA – spends most of its first two months of
the academic year planning, promoting and executing the parade.
Smith-Nissen recruits juniors in the spring for the next year’s DECA class, and "they know this is
one of their big responsibilities for the year."
She has students working on the parade during class, and sometimes during academic assist time. Now, with
the parade two weeks away, it’s crunch time and they’re still soliciting donations for costume judging
awards, decorating their float, and signing up more units to march in the event.
"My boss knows not to come in and bother me that week," she laughed.
Her boss, John Chaney, praised the veteran teacher for giving the seniors project responsibilities.
"It is marketing, the competency we’re teaching in that class, they’re doing it," Chaney said
about the hands-on learning students get. "It’s a great learning activity for the students
involved."
Class members learn marketing, advertising and customer service while contacting businesses for
advertising, sponsorship and parade entries.
"This is stuff you’re actually going to use later" in life, stated senior Olivia Boney, who is
on the publicity committee.
"It is a great project for the community, to have all those area businesses come out to the parade
on a Sunday," said Chaney, who is supervisor of marketing education for Penta Career Center.
Rossford’s DECA program is a satellite class for Penta.
There typically are about 85 units entered in the parade, which will start at 2 p.m. on Oct. 30 at the
marina. This year’s theme is "Hakuna Matata – What a Wonderful Parade" from "The Lion
King." Students will arrive on site early to assist in lineup, then take their place on the last
float of the parade.
"I hope the community realizes this is a new group of students each year. The only constant is
me," said Smith-Nissen, who is a 1989 RHS graduate.
She said she even shadowed friends who plan the Pemberville Free Fair, one of the largest around, to get
tips.
"She’s an excellent teacher. She told me (Wednesday) the first year she did it, it was a lot more
than she realized," Chaney said. "The kids like her, they like what they learn, they like how
she explains it in the class. To be a senior and to pull this off in the community, that’s something
they’ll remember."
"She was involved a lot, but gave us big responsibility," recalled Kelsey Wiegand, who
graduated in 2009 from Rossford High School and is now studying event planning at Bowling Green State
University.
After the parade, the teacher will sit down with her class and review what could be done differently to
improve the event.
"It’s a big relief when it’s over and we know it went well. It’s a feeling of accomplishment for the
kids."
And, "Yeah," she admitted with a laugh, "I get a good night’s sleep that Sunday
night."