Chartiers Valley senior to compete at national business competition

Kendal Astor has been around sports her entire life.

Growing up, the 18-year-old Chartiers Valley student was involved in softball and currently is the team manager for the Colts’ football, boys soccer and track teams.

She competes on Chartiers Valley’s unified bocce team and is president of the school’s Best Buddies chapter, a peer mentoring group between special education and general education students.

“Whether it’s actually playing the sport, managing it, or just going and watching, I’ve always been around the athletic department,” Astor said.

Those experiences have driven her to excel in sports and entertainment marketing.

Astor and two other Chartiers Valley students participated at the state DECA’s annual career development conference in Hershey in February, where she won third place in the sports and entertainment marketing category. DECA — formerly Distributive Education Clubs of America — is a student organization that aims to prepare future leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.

At the event, students take a generalized marketing exam and are placed in role-play scenarios in their specialized field. In Astor’s case, that was sports and entertainment marketing.

“The one was helping out a soccer team, and the other was helping out a band, so it ranges with different stuff like that,” she said.

Astor plans to compete in the DECA International Career Development Conference in California held from April 27 to 20.

“I’m looking forward to the experience, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” she said. “I feel like it opens up a lot of connections and possibilities for the future.”

Chartiers Valley business education teacher Christopher Meyer said Astor is one of the business department’s star students.

“Anytime Kendal’s asked to do something, she does it at a high level,” he said.

Meyer said Astor is only the fourth student to attend the national competition during his 10-year tenure at Chartiers Valley.

“Not many students make it to that level, and it’s certainly something Kendal should be commended for,” Meyer said.

Astor said she originally wanted to go into the medical field, but after taking a few anatomy classes, she didn’t love it as much as she thought she might. During her junior year, she took a business class “and ended up loving it.”

After graduation, Astor will attend the University of Alabama and plans to pursue a career in sports and entertainment marketing.

“I just fell in love with it, it’s a gorgeous campus,” she said. “It just felt like a home to me when I was there. … It was definitely a neat experience.”

Astor thanked her teachers and DECA advisors, Meyer and Jaime Hick, for preparing her for the competitions.

In addition to being involved with DECA and school sports, Astor also is a member of Chartiers Valley’s National Honor Society, French club and is a student-manager of the high school’s coffee shop.

“Any way to be involved, I’m there,” she said.