DECA students will compete at nationals April 27, through May 1. There are lots of steps they had to take to get where they are now.

The process started all the way back at the beginning of the school year when students had to plan events and figure out what to put in their research paper.

“When all our events were done we put it into a paper and our paper was 20 pages long,” senior Isabelle Braun said. “We took our paper and our presentation to state in Manhattan.”

At state Braun and her partner senior Kallie Leiker competed against seven other teams. To move on to nationals they had to at least be in one of the top two spots.

“Kallie and I took first there, so now we move on to nationals in Orlando, Florida,” Braun said.

Students have to pay a certain amount to be able to go to nationals, whether they pay for it or fundraise for it is up to them.

“As soon as we got back from state we started going around to local businesses,” senior Jacie Robinson said. “We took a letter with us and just went in and told them about our project and asked if any of them would be willing to help us pay for the trip.”

In this time before competition students are making finishing touches to their papers and presentations.

“There are some comments the previous judge had made about our presentation and we really want to make it better,” Braun said. “Nationals is a big thing and we did well last year, so we have high expectations and we hope we can do just as well this year.”

DECA students are very excited to compete at nationals and represent their school among so many other high school students.

“It is honestly such an incredible opportunity to be able to go at all, and I hope we can all receive the rewards we deserve, because everyone attending has worked so hard to get where they are,” junior Allison Hillebrand said.

21abrooks@usd489.com