For some students, it’s difficult to apply the knowledge obtained in the classroom setting to the real world. But the skills learned in DECA club are immediately applicable to life outside of high school. DECA, or Distributive Education Clubs of America, is an organization devoted to teaching high school or college students skills for a career in marketing, management, finance, hospitality, and entrepreneurship. The organization hosts competitions and events where students can compete against each other for conference titles, where they can gain knowledge and experience in the world of business in preparation for a career.
“Just like any normal school group, we compete against the other [school’s] chapters in different competitions. As a group we help raise money for MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association) and fundraise to go to our competitions. At districts, Nikki Look and I entered into the entrepreneurship competition, but it’s anything from role plays to written events. We had like a month in advance to write a paper and make a poster board to present a business plan so that we could get a loan and start our own business. We had to come up with numbers, make a logo, find a warehouse for our product and a ton of other small details so that we could get the ‘loan’ for our business,” senior MaKayla McCurdy said.
Another appealing aspect to students who can’t relate to the normal school routine will probably enjoy that students involved in DECA get out of school in order to get involved in competitions.
“We get to miss so much school, and instead of doing something boring, we go do fun things every time. It’s just an all-around fun team. [There’s] never a dull moment with DECA. We went to the capital mall so after we competed, it was off to the stores for shopping and just having fun,” McCurdy said.
Even if you haven’t been part of the club very long, they throw you right in and get you working on projects and events.
“Lori Brookshire and I wrote the Community Service Project Paper. We talked about last year’s events. But this year I’m helping plan a Car Bash and also our annual Jail-n-Bail. We have someone that’s going to donate a car to our DECA chapter. And one hit will be $3, and two hits will be $5. All proceeds will go to MDA. We’re not sure about all the details yet. Our Jail-n-Bail will be held at Benton Square. People come for an hour at a time. Their “bail” is set at $500. Their goal is to collect $500 or more. I haven’t done that much with DECA yet since our events are just now bring planned. But I really enjoy being a part of the club,” junior Caitlin Siehr said.
