Last Thursday, the Wake County Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) annual regional competition was held at the Raleigh Convention Center. Over 2,600 students from 21 schools competed, including 54 members of Millbrook’s DECA Chapter. DECA is a business club that aims to encourage students to become entrepreneurs and leaders.
Regional, state, and national competitions include roleplay and prepared events. The roleplay consists of students being given a business-related problem, having ten minutes to think of their solution, and then another ten minutes to present a possible solution to a judge.
DECA competitors also have the option to bring a written project related to topics like marketing, finance, entrepreneurship, or hospitality and tourism to present and be judged upon. The regional competition determines who can attend the DECA North Carolina State competition, which will be held in Greensboro at the end of February.
Vice President Mehr Kapoor shared her thoughts on regionals, saying, “I think it went really well! Considering that our number of members doubled since last year, we were very organized and our members did great in their competitions, despite 2+ hour delays. We also had two top 10 finalists from Millbrook!”
Impressively, Kaleigh Joy Robinson and Max Tenace, who are both sophomores, earned a spot in the top ten of all participants in each of their events. Kaleigh Joy competed in the Principles of Hospitality and Tourism event and Max competed in Principles of Entrepreneurship.
Max shared, “I was super happy to place in the top ten! I’m excited for states but it’s definitely going to be some tough competition. My favorite part about being in DECA is the opportunities and the people. It’s a great way to learn a lot of things and meet new people, even ones from different schools.”
Kaleigh Joy shared, “The competition went great, I placed in top 10 with a score of 99 on the roleplay! I’m happy I qualified for states. It’s exciting to see all the hard work pay off, and I’m looking forward to competing at the next level. Hopefully, I can place there and keep the momentum going!”
Overall, 40 Millbrook students qualified for DECA States! Millbrook DECA members exemplify the spirit of perseverance and hard work seen throughout the wildcat campus.
