When asked what DECA is, the majority of students at VHS would respond with a pause followed by, “What?” Though it is a relatively unknown club at VHS, DECA is a nationally established high school competition program that enables students to compete in academic challenges in dozens of different business based events.

DECA stands for “Distributive Education Clubs of America,” and was founded in 1946 with the goal of preparing young leaders and entrepreneurial students for the marketing, finance, hospitality and management industries in high schools and colleges around the world.

Students have the opportunity to compete in numerous events, such as Principles of Finance, Travel and Tourism, Business Services Marketing, and Fashion Merchandising Promotion Plan, in which students may compete with a partner or individually. The competition begins at the regional level, where students take a 100-question written exam, followed by a role-playing, interview situation with the judges. The top ten students from the Northern, Central, and Southern regional competitions move on to compete at state level in the same event.

The 2014 NJ state competition was held this March in Cherry Hill, among three different local hotels, and took place over three days. The first night consisted of a welcome orientation and the written exam, while the next day began with the role-plays in the morning. The top ten students from certain events qualified to advance on to finalist rounds and were in the running to earn a spot at the national competition. Students who scored in the final top three were able to continue competing at the national DECA competition, located this year in Atlanta, Georgia.

This year, 11 VHS students participated in the Northern Regional DECA competition at Ramapo College in January, and four continued on to the NJ State DECA competition on March 10^th.  These four included senior Brett Drozdowski, and juniors Alex Leuhs, Jaime Rollo, and Lia Golick.

There’s more behind DECA than the students who compete, however.  Also key to DECA at VHS is the school store, where students sell drinks and snacks after school by the gym. These students work in a business type setting, which teaches them how to interact with customers through actual experience. The money raised from the school store also helps contribute financially to the DECA club at our school.

DECA is a great organization for any student interested in getting a taste for the business, marketing, or financial world before they step out on their first job interview, or anybody who is interesting in competing academically.

“I decided to join DECA because it involves business and things that actually occur in the real world,” explained Alex.

From meeting new people at the competitions, to getting an idea of how prepared one is to enter the business world, DECA  is a great experience for students.