DECA students are preparing for the annual district competition tomorrow. Competitors attended a mock meet last Saturday, and say the meet is helping them prepare for the competition tomorrow.

“The mock competition did a really good job of letting you see what it will be like for the real one,” junior Daisy Green said. “The only difference is that there will be other schools and it’s the real competition.”

Students in DECA have spent many hours preparing for the district meet. If the students place during the competition, they will move on the state competition held in Copperas Cove.

“I wrote my 30 page paper and then I put together three posters, a 15-page slide and 15-minute speech,” sophomore Chris Upp said. “The time and effort I’ve put in will help me for the future. DECA helps my presentation skills, financial skills, and gives me an opportunity to get feedback from people.”

Contestants have two choices when deciding what they want their competition to be like. They can choose to take a pre-written business plan to investors, or be given a scenario to fix in an allotted amount of time.

“I like the amount of freedom [the first option] gives,” junior and DECA secretary Aditi Rao said. “We get to choose where we want to take [the plan] and this gives us a lot of real world experience. There are a lot of people who franchise these companies.”

DECA encourages high schoolers to be ambitious by letting students become acquainted with our industry-centered world.
“I really enjoy my event because it has taught me a lot of skills that I know I’m going to need in the future,” Green said. “I’m glad I’m being exposed to it now.”