By Ginger Liddell, submitted by Scott Townsend
On Monday, Jan. 23rd Payson High Marketing Class put their best foot forward to compete against 15 other top high schools in the Phoenix Metropolitan area. The competition was held on the campus of ASU (Arizona State University). The competition is known as DECA. DECA, formerly Distributive Education Clubs of America, is a nationwide business class preparing emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe. It is a marketing organization that allows students to compete in Marketing, Business Administration, Hospitality and Tourism, and Finance. These competitions help prepare students to think quickly and apply the business management and marketing knowledge learned in class. The competition focuses on real-life business scenarios. The students then have a short period of time to develop their vision and present it to corporate leaders from the community. The corporate leaders then have a pre-designed scoring matrix that they then complete, based on the presentation of the students’ vision/plan/tactics.
Each DECA chapter has officers that help plan and prepare activities along with their CTE (Career and Technical Education) Director, Ginger Liddell. The lessons are taught during the class in which students receive a grade and credit; then are further extended in the club outside regular school hours. Once skills are polished, it’s off to state events to compete in written and role-play events.
On Monday Payson High students stepped-up, competed and walked away with 7 test medals and 17 role play medals. Here is a listing of our top performers … William Anglemire took 3rd in Automotive Service Management; Maddy and Taryn Ashby took 3rd and Jazzy Hagel and Joel Van Zyle took 2nd in Buying and Merchandising Team event; Brooklyn Klein and Ashlyn Hagler took 2nd and Darren Miller and Izzy Sias took 1st in Entrepreneurship Team event; Cailtyn Hall and Lizbeth Reyes took 2nd in Travel and Tourism team event, Jaxon Rhodes and Chevy Hardman took 2nd in Market Management team event; Emmalea McMinimy took 2nd and Indra Lanners took 1st in Restaurant and Food Service; Winnie Paine took 2nd in Marketing Communications; and Raul Sias Peralta took 2nd in Quick Service Restaurant.
What’s next! These top performing students are headed to the State competition on Feb. 23 – 25th. This is held at the Arizona Grand in Phoenix. We will compete against 5000 other DECA members from around the state in hopes to qualify for Internationals. Internationals is held in Orlando, FL and up to 24,000 DECA members come from around the world to compete.
Overall, students’ participation in DECA allows them to develop valuable skills, form meaningful relationships, and pursue their passions in marketing, finance, and business and hospitality and tourism. With its focus on personal and professional development, community involvement, and teamwork, DECA provides a unique and valuable opportunity for students in Payson to succeed and thrive in the workforce.
As you may imagine, the cost for these competitions is high. If you have not donated to Credit for Kids (a tax credit for Arizona residents) please consider donating to DECA as you still have time for the 2022 tax season. We also need judges for our state competition. If you would like to know more please contact Ginger Liddell at ginger.liddell@pusd10.org.
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