On to Atlanta: 130 students competed at state DECA and 35 qualified for the international DECA competition from April 23-26

East’s Distributive Education Clubs of America team competed at the state competition on March 1 where 35 students qualified for International DECA. East will be sending 23 of these students to Atlanta to compete at the international level from April 23-26. 

DECA consists of three parts: project presentations, roleplay of business interactions and the written portion of terms related to business. Within these three parts, there are 30 categories that students can sign up to compete in. Categories range from Automotive Services, Retail, Sports, Entertainment, Restaurant Management, Professional Selling, Community Service and more. 

DECA is a co-curricular in the senior level Marketing Applications class and optional for juniors  enrolled in Marketing 1.

According to Marketing teacher and head DECA sponsor Mercedes Rasmussen, DECA teaches students to make quick decisions, be confident, communicate well with others, be organized and have good public speaking skills.

“Students are faced with scenarios that would really happen and they have to think on the fly,” DECA assistant and Intro to Business teacher Amanda Doane said. “They learn the 21st century big time skills that jobs are looking for.”

East’s DECA program is one of the largest in Kansas, containing 150 students. Students have competed in three competitions leading up to the state competition which was held virtually at the CAA this year to create a more competitive environment.

Seniors have been preparing every day in class for the DECA competitions since the fall. They practice role plays, take practice tests and prepare their DECA project presentations. Juniors are more limited in their options, as they cannot compete in the project presentations section. Even though they’re given optional assignments in order to prepare, it’s up to them if they do it or not. 

According to Rasmussen, the students’ commitment to preparation this year showed at the recent state competition. 

“My junior class this year has worked really hard in taking it upon themselves to prepare and get ready,” Rasmussen said. “The seniors have done a ton of preparation, and we had a ton of them place [at State].”

DECA Assistant, Intro to Business and Digital Design teacher Mallory Dittemore attributes the recent success to the competitiveness of her students that is created by the culture and tradition of high expectation at East. She thinks DECA is a great combination of academics and athletics which continually brings a sense of competitiveness. 

“DECA merges academics and athletics really well,” Mallory Dittemore said. “Everyone has high expectations for both [academics and athletics] and it’s similar with DECA.” 

Moving on to International DECA changes preparation, the focus is now on the students who are moving on to the international level according to Rasmussen. She’s working with students to fix the critiques that State judges had, such as working on speaking skills. Students who are presenting projects are practicing more frequently and adding components that could earn them a few extra points, such as photos that enhance the text. Students who are competing in the roleplay or test sections will be taking practice tests and role-plays until the team leaves for Internationals.

For some students, performing well is just about staying consistent. Seniors Kendall Beach and Chloe Stinson are competing in the Hospitality section of the competition. According to Beach, their team needs to continue the success they have had throughout the last two years.

“We are staying true to our roleplay values because it’s always what we’ve seen succeed,” Beach said.

For most students, the best part about DECA is the special experience of the competitions. According to Beach, the international competition will be a really fun experience. She’s excited to go to a different state and compete against thousands of people from different countries. 

“It’s really cool for me personally because I never really traveled for sports and stuff,” Beach said. “I feel like I finally found my niche.”

According to senior and Entrepreneur category competitor Spencer Newton, DECA has created a sense of community for all the DECA competitors at East. He believes that along with teaching him skills for the future, he’s made close friends and experienced things that he wouldn’t have without DECA.

“Everyone in Marketing 1 and Marketing 2 wants to compete in DECA and it’s a common thing between us all,” Newton said. “[Learning] from each other and looking out for each other has united our class together.”