The Distributive Education Club of America (DECA) attended the Silicon Valley Career Development Conference (SVCDC) brought home a record number of wins and will be attending the State Career Development Conference (SCDC) in the beginning of February.

Ninety students attended their first competitive business and leadership conference of the year in San Jose from January 3rd to 5th. The Upper School finished with 49 finalists, and 21 students placed in the top three of their categories.

Not only did DECA return with numerous awards, but they also brought back experience that they would not have been able to amass elsewhere.

“More than just the scores and the numbers, I think that the students really got an idea of what the competition is like especially for some of the freshmen, who didn’t really know what to expect,” said Vice President of DECA, Ariana Shulman (12).

Students checked in at the Marriott and attended an opening ceremony, and the majority of the participants also took a written test on Friday. The following day, after the students competed in roleplay and written events, an election for a new SV District Action Team was held, and three upper school students were elected onto the 25-member team. The SVCDC was finished off with an award ceremony on Sunday, after which the students left.

Arthur Shau (12) attended his first competition at SVCDC and won an award in Business Team Decision Making.

“Thanks to the help of the officers and the study sessions, I was able to get a grasp of [what the conference was like],” he said. “Overall, it was pretty fun and I liked every part of it.”

As preparation for the upcoming state conference, members are required to participate in at least three study sessions.  They have the opportunity to practice with student mock judges, hone their case study solving skills, read through written events, and meet with DECA advisor, Juston Glass. From February 5th to the 9th, the state career development conference, SCDC, will be held in Anaheim, California.

Aside from bringing back qualifiers for internationals, Juston Glass also hopes that at the state competition, students will have a positive experience that will affect them in the long run.

“I want to make sure that first and foremost that the students come out of the conference not worried about the wins they get, but they come back having had an experience that will foster a passion for them and their opportunities within business,” said Glass. “I want them to look back on their DECA days as something that really gave them that passion, […] no matter what their chosen field is.”

The top contestants of the state competition will automatically qualify for the international conference, which will occur in Atlanta, Georgia from May 3rd to 6th.

This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on Jan. 27, 2014