Students Prepare for Districts at DECA Day

Keya Sampat, Campus News Editor| November 13, 2019

  • Chris Fan ’20 studies after he finishes his role-play and testing. Fan competed in the Marketing Management Team Decision Making competition with Sathvik Allala ’20 and came in first place.

    Srilekha Cherukuvada
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  • After competing and testing, Nivrithi Kuttuva ’21 studies in the cafeteria. Kuttuva competed in the Marketing Management Team Decision Making event and placed 2nd overall with her partner, Srilekha Cherukuvada ’21.

    Srilekha Cherukuvada
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  • After competing, students came to the cafeteria where Grace Chen ’20, Anna Chiu ’21, and other officers held fun sessions and games for them to participate in. The cafeteria acted as a holding room for students as most finished testing and competing early.

    Srilekha Cherukuvada
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  • Bryan Chen ’20 gets ready for the open ceremony for DECA day. The opening ceremony was held in order to orient students on where events would be held and provide extra information about the general activities of the day.

    Srilekha Cherukuvada
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  • Before their role-play, Sakshi Dhavalikar ’21 and Serena Manwani ’22 practice using their computer. Dhavalikar and Manwani competed in the Sports and Entertainment Marketing Team Decision Making event.

    Srilekha Cherukuvada
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  • Denise Lin ’21 sells soda to a student. As a part of her DECA project, Lin sold candy and soda to benefit the DECA organization.

    Srilekha Cherukuvada
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  • Students attentively watch as Grace Chen ’20 and Bryan Chen ’20 answer questions at a presentation about DECA. After presenting and competing, many students came to the cafeteria to play fun games and listen to presentations by officers.

    Srilekha Cherukuvada
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As a way to prepare for their district competition, Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) hosted DECA Day on Nov. 9. The event consisted of lectures on how to improve performances for written events where students present a business plan, and gave each team the chance to participate in a role play with a judge and take a test based on their category. DECA officers put a lot of time into arranging this event, hoping that it would be good practice for DECA students. 

“I [wanted] everyone to get that pre-competition experience especially since district is coming up in less than two months,” President Brandon Wang ‘20 said. “Beyond that, I just wanted to set a precedent for next year to continue DECA day. Having a competitive environment before you go into districts is a way of taking off the stress of actually going to districts because you already had that experience and above all that it’s just a networking experience for all students.”

The purpose of organizing this event was to give students an opportunity to practice their event in a real life scenario with a judge, and give them a chance to see where they currently stand. Many students felt that this was useful because they could now see where they had to improve before the district competition on Jan. 18. 

“DECA day was an extremely beneficial opportunity to practice our event, and learn tips and tricks for our competition,” Aashi Vishnoi ‘21 said. “It was good to find out what my partner and I were doing well and what we needed to work on, and was a lot of fun.”

Although the students who participated in written events could not present their projects since most had not finished yet, they got the chance to perform a role play and test. Additionally, DECA officers prepared a presentation for these students in order to give them some advice on their written event. 

“DECA Day helped me with my presentational skills and eased my nerves about going to the actual DECA competition,” Sahil Shah ‘21 said. “The presentations redescribed what I have to do for my written project and reminded me of things I will have to do. [Overall], it was a fun experience and was very rewarding at the end.”

A closing ceremony was held at the end of the event, and prizes were given out by category for the top role plays and top test takers. Students also were able to see their critique for their roleplay and how they did on their tests. 

“Deca day was super helpful for me personally because I was able to experience the competition without being stressed out or worried,” Sakshi Dhavalikar ‘21 said. “I got some great feedback and now I know what not to do next time and how to make sure that I can maximize my performance.”