By Kara Kupferberg
On Jan. 7, DECA, one of South’s largest clubs, competed at this year’s regional competition at Freeport High School. Fifteen teams and 19 individuals qualified to compete at the State Career Conference in Rochester, NY on March 7. Additionally, 14 students received Honorable Mentions.
Ms. Sheryl Burger, who co-advises the club with Mr. Rick Vine, said, “We always do really well as a chapter and bring a lot of students to regionals. We did especially well this year and had a lot of new members, especially freshmen, who stepped up and worked hard. I’m really happy with the numbers of students who excelled and the performance of all our students.”
Students arrived at school at 6:45 a.m. to get on the bus to Freeport High School, where after many hours of preparation both teams and individuals competed in their events against students from all over Nassau County.
Students were given a business, marketing, or finance related scenario, depending on their event, and were asked to devise a creative solution to their case studies. After 15-30 minutes of preparation time, students presented their plans to judges and answered judges’ questions. Students were evaluated on performance indicators that required them to explain certain marketing, business, or finance concepts and terms.
Although most students did not like waking up at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning, they valued the experience. Sophomore Margot Metz said, “It’s not easy, but in the end it’s very rewarding.”