In DECA sponsor Dianna Heffernon’s Advanced Marketing class, DECA club members prepared this week for their upcoming meet. On Tuesday, Oct. 28, club members will travel to Blue Valley Northwest for the inaugural meet of the school’s DECA chapter.

In DECA, students travel to competitions and are put in different business scenarios where they must role-play based on the event they choose. Heffernon instituted DECA this year as a supplement to the Advanced Marketing course, which is composed of the Catty Shack staff. DECA functions separately from the Catty Shack, but the Board of Directors is the same for both institutions. Only Advanced Marketing students are allowed to participate in DECA, but it is mandatory only for the Board of Directors. 16 of the 20 students in the Advanced Marketing class chose to participate in DECA.

Over 30 event options are available at each competition. According to Vice President of Public Relations senior Hannah Hilton, students are encouraged to choose an event that is applicable to their life or academic goals.

“My event is ‘Buying and Merchandising.’ I chose it based on what I thought would work with my job, and what I like to do and what I already know,” Hilton said. “I don’t have to stick with this event forever. I can try it at the next [competition], and if I don’t like it, then I can choose something else.”

At the competition, students dress as if they are going to a job interview or to work in a professional setting. At the time of competition, students are given a prompt and have either ten or 20 minutes to prepare, depending on the event. Everything must be improvised. Judges base scores off of appearance, professionalism, and the student’s solution to the problem.

To be able to compete, students must first attend the worknight associated with the competition and prepare during class time. Vice President of Finance senior Kylie Tennis said substantial time in class is devoted to practicing a student’s introduction, as it is the most important part of the competition presentation.

“It is the most important part of any DECA event because that’s the first thing that they see of you,” Tennis said. “They’re either going to listen to you or not listen to you based off of it. We’re working on [our introductions] to make sure we’re concise.”

DECA competitions are intended to serve as valuable hands-on learning experiences.

“We instituted DECA because it’s a really great learning tool for us to get into the business world and see what it’s actually like,” Hilton said. “[DECA] is really competitive around the nation and it’s just a fun club.”

Hilton said the team has mixed emotions about the upcoming competition.

“There are about 500 people going, so we are terrified because we are taking 15,” Hilton said. “But I think we’re all really excited about it. It’s going to be a great learning experience and I know we can only grow from there.”

Following Tuesday’s competition, the team will begin preparing for its November meet at Blue Valley West.