Sponsor Debbie Fargo is preparing her (Distributive Education Clubs of America) DECA students for a local competition in Hayfield on Nov. 7.

“In competitions the students do simulated role plays and presentations and online simulations, and most of those things are done in front of a judge. They give them typical business role play situations,” Fargo said. This co-curricular club prepares DECA members for these competitions under the leadership of their officers.

An elaborate process occurs to elect the officers. Each candidate had to fill out an application and then Fargo had to choose a club president, Viraj Sunderam. Then together they got to choose the rest of the officers for DECA.

“DECA helps give you life skills that are valuable for any profession that you choose to go into,” senior club president Viraj Sunderam said. The club gives important experiences in high school that can help learn a lot about business.

DECA combines vocabulary, terminology, and concepts that students learn in class and then gives them a chance to actually use them in a real world situation.

“I find it very satisfying that students ‘get it’-we learn the concepts in class and then they do competitive events or go into the community and get to meet business people and they just get better at dealing with people and situations and interviewing, so I get excited about giving students the opportunity,” Fargo said. DECA can give you an experience for future career choices.

215,000 members across the world get business related experience and gain public speaking techniques

“Before I joined DECA I wasn’t a big fan of public speaking, but as I competed and became club president this year-I was co-VP last year-so through those titles and competitions I got out of my comfort zone and was able to speak in public without being afraid,” Sunderam said. Confidence is a big component for competitions, so learning how to remain calm is important.

What makes this club unique is the friends members make while in the class, in competitions and in fundraisers.Chick-fil-A was a main source for fundraising, so as a team they had to find other ways to raise money to go to their competitions.

A new county rule states that we can’t fundraise Chick-fil-A, so, we really came together to find other ways to fundraise for our competitions,” Sunderam said.

Not only does this club teach valuable business lessons, but also creates strong friendships. ”I joined this club because I was interested in business, but I am glad I joined because I met a lot of good people, I made new friends, and developed strong friendships.