DECA Students Will Compete at Internationals

East marketing students are traveling to Salt Lake City, UT this week to take part in the International Career Development Conference. In order to qualify for the international competition, the students had to place in the top two at the State DECA competition. East has the largest group of students attending in the state of Kansas with 33 representatives.The event takes place from April 28 through May 2, and will host about 20,000 students from around the world.

The conference hosts many different competitions, with over 25 areas of business for Marketing I students to choose from. In one event called roleplay, students are given a business-world related scenario that they must then try to problem solve. Then they have 15 minutes to brainstorm and plan before they present their idea to a judge. In addition, competitors take a 100 question test related to their topic.

Students attending the conference who are in Marketing II develop projects which include a thirty page paper on a business-related research area and a 10-20 minute presentation that they then pitch to a judge. Marketing teacher Mercedes Rasmussen said that these projects take a lot of time and planning in order to execute them well. These projects can cover topics such as advertising campaigns for a business, customer loyalty plans, fashion merchandising, international business plans and even community service projects.

“The process of writing the paper, studying for tests and developing business professional presentations and visuals takes three quarters to accomplish,” Rasmussen said. “We spend a great deal of time perfecting and practicing.”

Senior Heather Hartong will be competing at internationals for the first time and will be competing in the Business Operations Research Event.

“My project is about creating a Loyalty Rewards Program for the Sprint Center,” Hartong said. “Like any other rewards program you earn more points with the more that you do, specifically the more events that you attend in this case. The reward is more customizable the higher level that you choose to do, the bronze level is free, silver you pay a yearly fee, and gold you pay more.”

Rasmussen has helped the students develop and improve their skills over the year, and thinks that all of their hard work is going to pay off. She is optimistic and feels “very positive” about this year’s group.

“For the students to make it to the competition is amazing. They have worked very hard and are very motivated to do well,” Rasmussen said. “It all just depends on the competition and if they bring their “a” game.”

The following students will be competing at Internationals:
Heather Hartong
Samuel Gilman
Jeremy Young
Caroline Wooldridge
Elizabeth Wooldridge
Jade Delgado
Molly Jennings
Madeline Sniezek
Andrew Herst
Aidan Conley
Takanori Sawaguchi
Preston Vaughn
Logan Dalgleish
Abigail Jones
Sophia Hitchcock
Emma Pennington
Logan Rose
Jack Sayler
Spence Andresen
Adam Lowe
Alexa Janey
Joel Anderson
William Cray
Parker Johnson
Joseph Simmons
Mary Grace Diehl
Trenton Barnes
Emma Meara
Helen Dinkel
Emily Stanley
Catherine Sterbenz
Abigail Symes
Rachel Kephart