DECA Competition

Becca Polinsky

After what they thought was a terrible performance, Hadley Alter and Zoe Bowman, two sophomores at Clayton High School, left the DECA marketing and management organization competition to go home and watch TV. Little did they know, they would soon receive a call from a fellow DECA competitor, to let them know they would head to state.

Standing confidently in front of judges, Dylan Brown, Lily Kanefield and Carmen Planells, three seniors from Clayton High School, also competed after months of hard work. A few hours later, they received a text from Marci Boland, the supervisor of DECA, who informed them that they had qualified for the state competition.

On Wednesday, Feb. 6, 29 Clayton students qualified to compete in DECA at state level. Alter and Bowman presented the Hospitality and Tourism Team Decision Making, while Brown, Kanefield and Planells presented the Community Service Project.

“There were so many people at the competition,” Alter said. “It made it a little more nerve wracking since more people meant more competition.”

Alter and Bowman did not do a project, so instead they took a 100-question test. “The test was all multiple choice and it took about an hour. I felt like the test was especially hard to prepare for,” Alter said. “I didn’t know what to expect.”

After the test, the two girls participated in role-play, which are improvisational skits based off of requirements and information from a sheet of paper. The competitors receive 15 minutes to prepare for the skit.

“Our role-play was that we had an unsatisfied customer at our hotel and we needed to figure out what to do about this situation,” Alter said. “We presented our ideas to the judge, who was acting like the customer.”

“Competition is more exciting than it seems,” Josh Becker, Co-President of Clayton DECA said. “The role play scenarios are super wide open and presentations are always a good time.”

Alter notes that having Bowman by her side was the most important factors in their success. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without Zoe. It was comforting to have her there and we were able to help each other convey our ideas because we were both pretty nervous,” Alter said.

Only the top two teams in a team event move on to state.

The state competition takes place on March 17 through March 19 in the Ozarks. Alter and Bowman will be competing in the same way but evaluated in a much more difficult way. If they place well, they will move on to internationals.

“State is definitely going to be a challenge, but I know Zoe and I will do our best and whatever happens is okay. Besides, it’s only our first year,” Alter said.

“For districts, eight schools compete, for state I think it’s over 100, and for internationals, it’s like 1000,” Varun Chakravarthy, Co-President of Clayton DECA said.

Alter and Bowman are only two out of 29 qualifiers for state. “We were screaming and jumping all over the place when we found out,” Alter said. “I think it makes the whole experience better when you can share it with one of your best friends.”

Other qualifiers include:

Apparel and Accessories Marketing

Andrew Rudolph, second place

Jeremy Glik, third place

Business Finance Marketing

Jeffrey Massey, first place

Katherine Ren, second place

Quick Service Restaurant Management

Greg Ginos, first place

Retail Merchandising

Rachel Leader, first place

Business Law and Ethics Management Team

Reed Rosenblum and Gray Harlan, first place

Buying and Merchandising Team Event

Andy Rudolph and Jeremy Glik, second place

Financial Analysis Team Decision Making Event

Adam Belsky and Will Siegel, first place

Marketing Communications Team Decision Making

Paul Kiefer and MJ Milbourn, third place

Hospitality and Tourism Team Decision Making

Zoe Bowman and Hadley Alter, first place

Sports and Entertainment Marketing Team Decision Making Event

Toby Barrack and Max Redeker, first place

Travel and Tourism Team Decision Making

Will Brown and Sebastian Juhl, first place

Sports and Entertainment Operations Research Written Event

Adam Goldmeier and Mac Rechan, first place

Entrepreneurship Promotion Plan

Rebecca Stiffelman and Lindsey Peck, first place

Financial Literacy Promotion Plan

Varun Chakravarthy and Josh Becker, first place

Community Service Project

Carmen Planells, Dylan Brown and Lily Kanefield, third place

Leadership Delegate

Katherine Ren, first place