DECA begins season with DECA Launch weekend
Over 80 frosh participated in exercises, workshops and competitions on business fundamentals during DECA Launch on Friday and Saturday across the upper school.
Senior DECA CEOs Tanvi Sivakumar and Amishi Gupta introduced DECA along with Business and Entrepreneurship Teacher and DECA Director Juston Glass, presenting an introduction video and giving an overview of the club.
“I came to DECA launch because I thought it would just be a great opportunity to get to know new students and learn more about business and entrepreneurship,” frosh Navya Maddipudi said. “I really enjoyed creating the presentation about our own innovation and working with the people in my group.”
Officers launched a campus-wide scavenger hunt to build teamwork and quick-thinking skills. Teams worked through different clues to locate officer stations across campus, where they completed challenges.
Vice President of Operations Nathaniel Idicula (11) explained how the activity connected to DECA’s competitive events.
“One thing that’s great about the scavenger hunt is that the ninth graders learn teamwork,” Nathaniel said. “People in a group have to talk to each other and be able to think really fast on the fly. It teaches problem solving, thinking on their feet and working well with others in front of a judge, so it’s similar to what we do in DECA in our roleplays.”
Nathaniel was the Director of Roleplays last year and highlighted how the roleplay competition introduces frosh to DECA’s signature format.
“One of the best parts of DECA is the roleplays,” Nathaniel said. “It’s the first experience that freshmen get with timed problem solving. It’s a really fun experience for me as an officer to see them thinking of things creatively and to see what they have to show.”
In teams of two, DECA Launch participants presented their roleplays on Friday and pitch decks for the Innovation Challenge on Saturday, with two rounds of pitches. Tanvi and Amishi presented awards for the top three groups for the roleplay competition, while Innovation Challenge groups received awards for different categories like Best Presentation, Best Innovation and Best Overall.
Teams of frosh Rohan Ahuja and Jacob Cao, Leo Hoffmann and Ranvir Tyagi and Ushnish Chatterjee and Jacob Dorfman took first, second and third place in the roleplays, respectively.
Rohan was also part of the K.ai innovation group. He outlined strategic approaches he used in the two events.
“We assigned a list of values that Carefree Inn would have,” Rohan said. “We reemphasized them over and over in the conversation while addressing all their concerns. For the innovation presentation, I did an impression to make us stand out. It differentiated us from the other presentations, which is really what you’re looking for in an event like this.”
Students attended an alumni panel at 4 p.m. on Saturday, where former DECA members spoke about their experiences, offered advice on competition strategies and time management and answered questions.
DECA officers organized the two-day event with support from Glass. He emphasized the opportunities beyond the classroom that DECA provides.
“Whether it’s partnering with a local business for a marketing campaign or coming up with a new innovation, DECA projects could change people’s lives for the better,” Glass said. “We believe we’re doing business that can make a positive change in the world, and we’re excited to be able to offer that. Participating in DECA helps students develop their confidence that they can be a future business professional, emerging leader or entrepreneur in the future years.”
