After months of preparation and competition, 95 members of DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) will be competing at the state tournament February 25-27 in Dallas, Texas.

“The kids are going to be put into tons of different environments during the competition,” DECA sponsor Julieanna Ash said. “There will be a lot going on, but we are more than prepared.”

The students, grades 9-12, will be competing in over 24 different events; including role playing certain business situations and pitching mock business plans. In these events, the students will have to do presentations, research and project based events, and case studies in front of boards.

“There is a lot of preparation that goes into these events,” Ash said. “They will really have to know what they are talking about the entire time, as well as be able to address many things.”

Many students will be working with partners during the competition, and they have been using online practice tests as well as practice role play sessions to help them get a feel for the board rooms.

“My partner and I get together to practice all the time,” freshman Enrico Piperno said. “We just go back and forth with role play and study as much as we can for the written test.”

With hundreds of students competing from all four regions of Texas, our students have spent lots of time before and after school preparing as much as they can for competition.

“I think what I’m most looking forward to is just seeing if we can do it,” sophomore Regina Lankenau said. “DECA is definitely not easy and it would be amazing if we could make it all the way to nationals, and I’m hoping we do.”