One of our clubs at RHS is DECA which stands for Distributive Education Clubs of America. DECA is offered all over the U.S., as well as  internationally with countries like Canada,  Puerto Rico, Germany and more. DECA is a business club which, as they state themselves,  “DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance,  hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe.” DECA offers a variety of things that help students like offering scholarships, internships, and being able  to travel. 

DECA competition includes three levels: district/area, state, and international. Each competitor(s) chooses to compete in one of four career clusters: Marketing, Business  Management & Administration, Hospitality & Tourism, or Finance. Choosing topics within  each career cluster, all participants are able to compete in two role plays and a cluster  test, or students have the option to participate in projects that focus on  professionalism within writing, as well as presentation and public speaking skills.  Members may receive medals for each part of the event (role plays and/or tests) as well as  place in their event to advance on to the next level of competition. 

Today I interviewed 3 freshmen Chloe Alejo, Lisa Tang, and Elin Ramirez. At Area  competition they competed in the Integrated Marketing Campaign-Product event where  they had to prepare in advance a 10 pager about a campaign that is related to any  hard/soft line retail products including e-commerce. They decided to campaign on the “Conscious Twist Crop Bra A-C” a sports bra from Athleta. All of them were able to place  8th overall allowing them to go compete in the 2024 State Career Development  Conference (SCDC) in Bellevue at the Meydenbauer Center from February 29 – March 2  for a chance at a spot for the International Career Development Conference in Anaheim, California later this year. I asked about their experience in DECA so far and what it was  like competing at Area competition. 

(Pictures of the “Conscious Twist Crop Bra A-C” in Black, Begonia, and Clover Berry from  the Athleta website )

Why DECA? 

Chloe: “I decided to join DECA because the club interested me. For me, I want to pursue a career in business and I saw this as an opportunity to get some knowledge and experience  in business. I also joined because a lot of my friends were in the club too.”

Lisa: “I chose DECA because I heard that we could travel around to compete and I wanted to expand my skills and knowledge in business.”

Elin: “I thought it can provide me with opportunities that can move me more into the professional world. I wanted to see if business and networking is something I would want to  do in the future.”

Why would you recommend DECA to another student / how would you promote it? 

Chloe: “I would definitely recommend DECA to other students because DECA is such a fun experience. You get to practice business skills as well as go to other places and compete. You are also able to meet so many people and make so many connections with people across the state/U.S. I think word of mouth is definitely a great way to promote the club because so many people have joined since they found out that we go to other places to  compete and apply our business skills.”

Lisa: “I would recommend DECA to another student because not only is it good on your college apps, it also benefits your knowledge in the business world and helps improve your skills in being a leader.”

Elin: “I would recommend it to someone because it’s fun and it really helps the highschool  experience. I would promote it by talking about the competitions we do and the rewards  you can get as well as the field trips that you’re able to experience when joining DECA.” 

Describe your experience so far and if you will continue to do DECA in the future. 

Chloe: “So far my experience in DECA has been both fun and challenging. Challenging because preparing for competitions can be stressful BUT so so so fun because I get to collaborate with so many other people/meet other people from different districts. I also love being able to learn business and apply that knowledge in competitions.” 

Lisa: “My experience so far is going pretty great! I like working with my friends and getting to meet new people! I plan on continuing DECA next year since I have more experience in  what it’s like to compete, so it will be easier for me to understand the concepts of  DECA.”

Elin: “So far it has been really fun, even though it has been stressful, it’s still fun  and I take pride in what I have done. I hope I’ll do this next year and hope to do better and be able to place higher next time.”

What is your favorite part about being in DECA? 

Chloe: “My favorite part about DECA is being able to obtain knowledge in business. Like I said before, I want to pursue a career in business and DECA has given me an opportunity to get a head start on that. I also love being able to go to different places to compete.”

Lisa: “Although competing is stressful, I enjoy competing a lot because it’s stressful at the moment, like waiting for the rewards to be announced, but it’s still fun.”

Elin: “My favorite part being in DECA is the competitions because it feels really nice placing  and the adrenaline I feel.”

What is your favorite memory that you made in DECA? 

Chloe: “My favorite DECA memory is qualifying for 2024 SCDC. I felt so proud of myself and my group for having our hard work pay off.”

Lisa: “My favorite memory during DECA was at FLC at the Hyatt.” 

Elin: “My favorite memory I have made is when I was working on my event with Chloe and Lisa. It was nice seeing different sides of them being stressed about it, but also working at it and problem solving, and seeing our finished product be.”

Why did you guys choose the Integrated Marketing Campaign-Product event to  compete in? 

Chloe: “I chose the Integrated Marketing Campaign-Product because I wanted to be in a group with people since I was afraid of competing alone. Also we were able to prepare ahead of time, by making a 10 pager, instead of being put on the spot for a role play.”

Lisa: “We chose the Integrated Market Campaign Product because I wanted to work in a group with my friends and we all collectively decided to choose this event.” 

Elin: “We chose the Integrated Market Campaign-product because I was scared to work alone for my first time competing. And I wanted to work with my friends to see how it would go.” 

Why did you guys choose a sports bra to be your product? 

Chloe: “When we were looking for a product to base our campaign on, my group member recommended Athleta, which is the company that created the sports bra. We looked into the company and saw that their core values were very inspirational. Athleta is a B-Corp company who wants to empower girls/women through their sustainable athletic gear. They partnered with the water + women alliance to protect the rights of women as well as care for our planet’s bodies of water, and even create grants to girls/women. We really 

liked their morals and saw that they also partnered with world famous gymnast Simone Biles. We saw that Simone placed the bra as her top pick which resulted in us picking the bra.”

Lisa: “We chose the sports bra because we noticed that it was one of Athleta’s top picks on their website and it was one of Simone Biles picks as well (she’s an ambassador).”

Elin: “We chose a sports bra from Athleta because their company is mainly focused on empowering woman and girls to empower each other to realize their limitless potential as they state in their mission statement. And also this sports bra is one of the top picks on their website.”

How was your experience presenting your campaign? 

Chloe:” At first the thought of presenting was very scary for me. But during the actual competition it went by really smoothly and it wasn’t scary at all.” 

Lisa: “It was really nerve wracking at first because I thought our judge was going to be way  stricter at grading but turned out to be pretty smooth sailing.”

Elin: “We were at first really stressed and what to do right and what was wrong and we were  also very cautious with not breaking any of the guideline rules so we wouldn’t be diluted  with points for it. When we were waiting to present we saw people bringing electronics and we thought we weren’t able to bring electronics for presenting, but during the presentation it was honestly not bad, even though I made one mistake.“

If you were able to change one thing about your campaign after you saw your evaluation  form what would it be? 

Chloe: “Think of ways to make our budget smaller because our budget was so high.” 

Lisa: “We would change our cost of the budget. $14 million was too much.”

Elin: “One thing we are changing about our campaign would be our budget because the budget was really high to start off and the reaction we got from our judge seemed like it was way too high. Also something I would like to do better next time is increase my testing score because our testing scores were the main reason why we placed lower than others.”

How was your Area competition experience? 

Chloe: “My Area competition was super fun. I was able to interact with the judge and meet  so many other people. Also the food they gave us was so yummy.”

Lisa: “It was great! My friends and I were placed for state!” 

Elin: “I really liked it because there were a lot of people to meet and connect with. I really liked the food that was there like there was scones, pizza and drinks you could buy, and hearing the area president candidates speeches that people gave and also during the award ceremony when they called out the people the placed for state. And also there were games that you could play while you waited for your event and wanted for the award ceremony, as well as cheering on your team mates.”

(Left to right: Elin Ramirez, Chloe Alejo, Lisa Tang; At Washington State Fair grounds in Puyallup on stage after finding out they placed for SCDC – Picture taken on January 23, 2024 by Kristy Baker )

Interviewing Chloe, Lisa, and Elin was a great experience being able to hear their thoughts on DECA at school was very insightful and interesting. Congratulations to all of them  on their placement in SCDC! 

If you want to learn more about DECA, you can follow Renton High School’s DECA instagram account @renton.deca to keep up with what’s going on with Renton DECA. Also, you can dm the account about questions related to DECA. If you want to ask a teacher about DECA then you can ask the advisor Ms. Baker in room 116 or Ms. Toone in room 248. Meetings are every tuesday in room 116 from 2:15 – 3:00. 

Sources: 

“Conscious Twist Crop Bra A-C | Athleta.” Athleta.gap.com,  

athleta.gap.com/browse/product.do?pid=790990022&cid=3027908&pcid=30279 08&vid=1&searchText=simone%20biles%20picks. 

“DECA Competition.” RHS FBLADECA, rhsfbladeca.weebly.com/deca competition.html#:~:text=DECA%20competition%20includes%20three%20levels . 

“Integrated Marketing Campaign-Product | DECA Inc. Competitive Events.”  Www.deca.org, www.deca.org/compete/integrated-marketing-campaign-product. Milbourne, Whitney. “Top 5 Reasons to Join DECA | DECA Direct Online.”  Www.decadirect.org, 29 Aug. 2022, www.decadirect.org/articles/top-five-reasons to-join-deca#:~:text=DECA%20awards%20more%20than%20%24200%2C000. “Our Mission | DECA Inc.” Www.deca.org, www.deca.org/mission. 

“Athleta.” Gap Inc., www.gapinc.com/en-us/about/athleta#:~:text=Values. “DECA.” CTSOs, www.ctsos.org/ctsos-2/deca/. 

Athleta. “Shop Athleta for Women’s Yoga Clothing, Technical Athletic Clothing,  and Athleisure.” Gap.com, 2019, athleta.gap.com/. 

“Instagram.” Www.instagram.com, www.instagram.com/renton.deca/.