On Dec. 19, many new faces walked into the DECA District One Conference at Saginaw Valley State University.

Out of 34 KHS students that attended the conference, 14 qualified for the state competition.

Those students were as follows:

• Sophomore Erin Davis and sophomore Emily Taunton for Buying and Merchandising
• Junior Mikayla Stevens and junior Angelina Abufarha for Traveland Tourism
• Senior, Kayla Emmendorfor and senior Miranda Mcfarlane for Travel and Tourism
• Senior Antonio Moscarro and senior Mitchell Judd for Sports and Entertainment Marketing
• Senior Alexis Carter for Apparel Accessories series
• Senior Joseph Dever for Apparel Accessories series
• Senior Jennifer Hall for Principles of Marketing
• Junior Noah Jankowski for Principles of Finance
• Junior Anthony Stephenson for Marketing Management series
• Senior Trent Tuttle for  Retail management
• Senior James Redumski for Principles of Finance (alternative)

All students that attended spent the day expressing their many skills in communication, marketing, and finance to the judges. Now they will begin preparing for the next competition.

“The district conference was fun and you got to meet new people,” junior Angelina Abufarha said. “I thought there was going to be a group of judges judging you while you stand, but it was only one judge, and you sit down and have a one-on-one (conversation). It’s really nice. I liked it.”

Abufarha said she is thrilled to be moving on to the state competition.

“I hope states will be as fun as districts,” Abufarha said.

The state competition will be held in Grand Rapids at the Amway Grand Hotel and DeVos Convention Center.

Those who did not make it to the state competition still gained from their experiences.

Senior Kayla Berry said it was an experience that she could bring home and apply to her everyday life.

Berry said, “I know I tried my best.”

She hopes to do better in future competitions.

The conference was different from what students in the past have experienced.

“There was more of a social media presence there,” senior Trent Tuttle said. “Before competition, it was announced that there would be a DECA-selfie competition, or I guess you could call it a “delfie” competition. Other competitions were DECA memes and most retweeted tweet about DECA. So, instead of focusing on competitions, a lot of students focused on selfies and not business.”

Returning members believe future competitions will go well.

Tuttle said, “I believe over half of our people that qualified for states will move on to the next level of competition and equally become national champions. I am very confident in my fellow members.”