SK students qualify for national DECA competition

PORT ORCHARD — One of the South Kitsap High School DECA groups has qualified for the international competition March 1-3.

In order to qualify, the team has to be in the top seven in the state to advance.

“The reason we are so excited for the school-based enterprise team is because it is the first time South Kitsap DECA has submitted a project for gold certification,” said Betsi Feider, the DECA teacher.

Gold certification means the project, which in this case is about the Lobo FroYo student store at SKHS, is “efficiently running and meeting expectations of what a student store should be doing,” Feider said.

The students on this team include Carson West, second year DECA member; Paige Ohman, second year DECA member; and Avery Myers, third year DECA member, SK DECA President and Lobo FroYo store manager.

The team wrote a 50-page project about Lobo FroYo’s business operations for gold certification. It included documentation of financial analysis, operations, marketing information management, market planning, product service management, distribution, selling and human resource management.

At internationals, they will compete against 391 schools nationwide.

Other groups of students also qualified for state competitions this year. Those teams either do a written project and pre-planned presentation, or take a test with 100 multiple-choice questions and do a role play, in which they are given a scenario related to their category and have 10 minutes to come up with a presentation for it.

DECA is important, Feider said, because it “provides students with skills necessary for life after high school.”

“We prepare students for college and careers in entrepreneurship, marketing, management, finance and hospitality,” Feider said. “DECA does this through college, business and educational partnerships, competitive events, publications, student and school recognition and community service.”

There are 220 DECA members at SKHS. All marketing students are members, Feider said. Of those, 42 attended the Area 7 DECA competition, 30 are attending the statewide competition; 15 went to the Sports and Entertainment Marketing Conference in Orlando, Florida; and 16 attended the Washington DECA Fall Leadership Conference.

According to Washington DECA (wadeca.org), more than 200 high school teachers in Washington teach more than 11,000 DECA students “to aspire higher, become leaders and prepare to thrive in the global economy.”

“DECA is a powerful partnership between students, teachers, parents and business leaders,” WA DECA states. “This partnership combines educational purpose with real-world business practice and then amplifies it with student passion for a positive and profitable future.”

Myers, SKHS DECA president, said, “DECA is important because it teaches the fundamental skills to thrive in the working world after high school.”

To learn more about DECA, visit wadeca.org.

Michelle Beahm is the online editor for the Kitsap News Group. She can be reached at mbeahm@soundpublishing.com.