DECA Welcomes back in person competition

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“It’s always awesome to get to work with so many people from the local area.”
Mabel Riley, Klamath Union High School

The following is a press release from Klamath Union High School DECA.

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - Dressed professionally and feeling confident, emerging leaders from various high schools in Southern Oregon competed in the District III DECA competition held at Oregon Tech. This event featured DECA role plays on a given business situation judged by volunteer judges from all around the town of Klamath Falls and a multiple-choice test.

DECA, an acronym for Distributive Education Clubs of America, is an organization that helps high schoolers develop leadership skills and obtain real-life experiences in the areas of marketing, business, hospitality, and many more. DECA competitions are composed of specific industries such as Retail Marketing, Restaurant and Food Service Management, Apparel and Accessories Marketing, Marketing Communications, Food Marketing, and Travel and Tourism team decision from which students can choose to compete.

126 students from Klamath Union High School (KU), Henley High School, North Medford High School, South Medford High School, Crater High School, and Phoenix High School competed. KU sent 39 members ranging from first-year to experienced veterans. An atmosphere of friendship, competition, and socializing made the experience memorable for every individual.

“I’ve never done DECA before, but I have to say, I’d 100% do it again. This experience was surprising in so many ways. It was easier than expected to understand and incredibly fun! I would highly recommend DECA to anyone who's interested in business and looking to get out of their comfort zone.” Katherine Brown, Klamath Union High School.

To start the competition, KU DECA officers welcomed the competitors and soon all the competitors completed a marketing exam of 50 questions and two business roleplays.

The role-play competition started with competitors from each event analyzing a business situation. Individual competitors were allowed 10 minutes and teams were allowed 15 minutes to prepare their presentations of potential solutions. The limited preparation time helped participants to hone critical thinking skills at a fast pace and to focus on the most suitable solutions for the situation.

After preparing, participants presented their solutions to the judges. The roleplay began with competitors offering a warm and professional handshake to the judge, as the first impression. From there, competitors were to go over each performance indicator and how it related to the question proposed by the roleplay. It then came to an end once the competitors responded to any additional questions the judges had and a “thank you” from both sides. The role plays continued until every participant from every event finished.

All judges were members of our community who happily volunteered to play the role of a judge for our successful event. Having trained just on-site, the judges showed a complete understanding of the purpose of this event and played their roles with great enthusiasm.

As students awaited the results, they had time to socialize with students from other schools and to enjoy a meal from the food court at Oregon Tech. Sometime later, every student was to gather for the awards ceremony.

Filled with cheers for oneself and peers, it was an event to remember and to grow from.

“It was good practice, especially for people who don’t know what they’re doing. It was fun and I personally would want to do this again.” Hadley Dunlevey, North Medford High School.

Congratulations to every winner from Klamath Union High School. The names of the winners are listed according to the events they competed in.

Restaurant and Food Management:

  • Mabel Riley - 1st in the exam, 1st in the first roleplay, and 3rd overall.

Apparel and Accessories Marketing:

  • Katherine Brown - 1st in the exam, 1st in the first roleplay, and 2nd overall.

  • William McAtee - 1st in the exam

  • Cassidy Bogatay - 2nd in the exam, 2nd in the first roleplay, 1st in the second roleplay, and 1st overall.

Retail Marketing:

  • Walter Hartley - 1st in the exam.

Marketing Communications:

  • Abigail Cook - 1st in the first roleplay.

Food Marketing:

  • Ameesha Hazarika - 2nd in the first roleplay, 3rd in the second roleplay, and 2nd overall.

Travel and Tourism Team Decision:

  • Alyse Perez and Brooke Nelson - 1st in the exam, 1st in the roleplay, and 1st overall.