Plano had 22 students compete in the state DECA competition in downtown Dallas from Feb. 20-22.
“DECA is an international marketing organization that prepares ambitious students to enter the business world,” club sponsor Samantha Spears said.
At the state contest, there are competitive events based on six different career clusters, which include Business Management and Administration, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Finance, Hospitality and Tourism and Personal Finance Literacy.
“Competition for my event is partially an exam which is half of my score, and the other half is an interview scenario with a judge,” DECA co-president Aiden Johnson said.
Johnson competed in the food marketing category due to his previous experience working in a grocery store. DECA officers organized lunch study sessions for everyone competing to review past questions and discuss strategies, ensuring that each competitor will be confident in their preparation.
“At regionals there were no clearly announced winners, but we got an amazing score,” junior DECA officer Hermina Lapteacru said.
During the regional competition, placing was not announced. Instead, they just announced everyone that moved on to the state competition.
Lapteacru competed in the Learn and Earn project with senior Kathryn Storey, which focuses on starting up a small business and how to run it. Lapteacru and Storey chose to do a candy vending machine as their small business. Before competition, Lapteacru and Storey presubmit a manual explaining how they managed their business and how they “Learned and Earned,” then give an oral presentation.
“Meeting people from across the state that are all there for the same goal is an amazing experience,” Johnson said.
Going to competitions for DECA gives students the opportunity to meet other people that have the same interests. By making new friends, students may also be making connections for their future.
“I am pretty confident going into state, but it is really stressful because the next step is internationals. I really want to make it to internationals,” Lapteacru said.
The International Career Development Conference will take place April 21-24, in Atlanta Georgia. At this conference, the best DECA students from around the world will compete on the international level. Students from the United States, the District of Columbia, Canada, China, Germany, Guam, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Spain all compete in this international conference.
“We are proud of all of our students that compete, they studied hard and were competitive in their role plays,” Spears said.