Marketing, management, and entrepreneurship are some of the key skills and values of students in DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America), an international organization dedicated to developing future leaders in business. It gives students opportunities to compete and have a positive impact on their community.

“We’re an organization that is centered around leadership competition and community service,” business teacher and DECA advisor Allison Goodman said. 

A key part of DECA is the competitions that students can participate in. There are small ones throughout the year and then bigger ones such as State and ICDC (international career development conference). These competitions range from projects to roleplaying different aspects of business and entrepreneurship. Each student can choose a business cluster to compete in.

“You can choose what cluster you’re interested in like marketing or finance and within those clusters in multiple events you can do,” vice president of community outreach Basie Spurgeon said. 

DECA students did well in their Metro competition with MN placing in the top three. New DECA participants placed well also. 

“Out of all the events there are only five categories that MN didn’t win and of those, we didn’t have competitors for three of them,” vice president of competition Aanya Mishra said. 

DECA students are now preparing for one of their biggest competitions: State. Different resources such as quizlets and practice tests are some of the ways students get ready for their competition in March. 

“Everyone in Nebraska goes to Lincoln for state and competes, and the main goal is to get first, second or third so then we can qualify to go to ICDC,” vice president of leadership Sophia Lancester said. 

To get more people involved in the competitions and opportunities that DECA provides, students share information about DECA through DECA week. They partake in various activities that involve both in and out of DECA.

 Some examples of these activities are a shark tank social where students can pitch their business ideas and a scavenger hunt where students can redeem a prize for finding items placed around the school. 

DECA students remain devoted as they spread the word of DECA and get ready for their upcoming state competition using a variety of resources. 

Overall, students enjoy the community and support that they gain whilst preparing for competitions and appreciate being awarded for their hard work. 

“Everyone is just so supportive of each other and it’s just such an exciting thing when you hear all your friends’ names being called to get an award,” Spurgeon said.