By Olivia Ryan, Matt Seger, Janie Hodny & Byron OrtizGarcia
At the beginning of March, the UW-Green Bay’s DECA team headed to the annual state competition. All seven members who competed qualified for the national competition in Baltimore, Maryland.
DECA stands for Distributive Education Clubs of America and is a nonprofit organization. High Schools and Colleges all over the United States participate in DECA. They do volunteer work, fundraisers, go to conferences, and the most significant event is the competitions. The competitions consist of different case studies, exams, and presentations. Members can pick which category they want to compete in, and if they place in the top four, they get to advance to the national competition to win scholarship money.
Nationals have been held in Anaheim, Atlanta, Dallas, and this year in Baltimore, Maryland. “It’s really a great way to build your networking skills and get real-life experience in the business world. The case studies are real situations that we might have to deal with one day, and it’s great to gain some confidence. Not only that, but you get to travel while doing it.” said Vice President of the chapter, Michael Ninham.
The current chapter President, Carli Shamion expresses how proud she is of everyone’s hard work, “I have seen this group’s passion and hard work throughout this year. Fundraising these trips has been one of the biggest struggles. By working together and using our resources have been able to raise thousands of dollars this school year”.
The DECA team is now fundraising for the National competition by selling Seroogy bars on April 5th and 6th all day in the union. Come and show support and help them fund a trip they all earned.
Stay up to date on all the DECA events and follow them on Instagram @Deca_of_UWGB!
