On March 4 and 5, five members of the SHS DECA team took part in their second state competition, senior Natalla’h Wilson being one of them.

She presented two roleplays, situations that simulate a real-life problem, and she placed in the top 10 out of 2000 contestants.

“It felt really nice,” Wilson said. “I wasn’t really expecting it.”

The club serves to prepare students for careers in hospitality and management, business and finance, and they are looking to grow and expand their popularity and reach.

But last year was the first year that DECA was offered at SHS. Business teacher Cheryl Rettig started the club with the help of business teacher Ashley Quinlin, who aided in growing and popularizing the club.

“The volume wasn’t there obviously … ,” Rettig said. “It was so unknown. It was hard to get kids.”

Despite having trouble with getting students to join, there are still some who joined this year, one of which is senior Manprit Kaur.

Focusing on her future, she

hopes that DECA will help her with finances and the business side of things.
business in the future,” Kaur said. “So it’s a really great opportunity.”

But, one of the main problems with DECA is the funding. So, the sponsors aim to create a DECA store, inspired by one they saw at a district competition, where members will sell stickers and extra merchandise.

“It’s giving kids an opportunity to become those leaders,” Quinlin said. “And you can’t do that without funds.”

Now, the club is focused on getting even more members to participate. With the upward trend DECA’s experiencing, senior Donald VanValkenburg, one of the club’s presidents, has good expectations on the clubs future.

“Our current members in our chapter are some of the most hardworking and dedicated people … ,” VanValkenburg said. “I am super excited to see where the new members will take the club.”