Sycamore High School's DECA program has a new advisor with Fortune 500 credentials. Annie Gossett, who held brand and general management positions at Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson, is now teaching marketing foundations and leading the school's competitive business club.

Gossett replaced Darius Powell, who left the marketing department last year, according to The Leaf, the student newspaper. She is employed through Great Oaks Career Campuses, which runs satellite career and technical education programs in local districts.

Her path to the classroom is unusual. After attending Harvard Business School, Gossett did market research at the Nielsen Company, then moved into brand and general management at Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble, she told The Leaf.

Teaching was not a sudden idea. Both of Gossett's parents were public school teachers. But the pivot came last year, when she walked her school-aged children to class and felt what she called "this magnetic pull of the school atmosphere." She said the classroom was where she could have the most impact.

Gossett told The Leaf she is still adjusting. She spent the summer planning lessons but said she adapts daily based on how students respond. She said she reflects after each class on whether the content landed and whether the format worked. She hopes to have her routine settled by second semester.

As a Great Oaks employee, Gossett did not have full say over her placement. But she said she is happy with the fit, citing the school's well-established DECA chapter and a student body she described as passionate. She has also leaned on veteran staff, including a colleague she identified as Mr. Steedly, to shape her lesson plans.

The DECA program she now leads has a strong track record. As we reported Oct. 13, DECA students Alp Onguc and Myra Sahay presented the program at the school's first Aviators & Innovators alumni breakfast. The district said 135 Sycamore students competed in the DECA District 13 Competition at Princeton High School, facing students from four other districts in 30 impromptu marketing events, according to a district social media post.

Last year, Sycamore led Ohio with 45 students advancing to the international level. Students who competed at the district level can advance to the Ohio DECA Career Development Conference in Columbus in February and the international conference in Atlanta in April.