On March 13th, the Kearsley DECA students left Kearsley High School and drove to their destination, Detroit, for their state conference! This experience is for the bright students who excelled at districts and the hard workers who did written events. Twenty two talented students attended this conference, along with 2 wonderful chaperones, our adviser Mr. Vanwagoner and previous adviser Mr. Whalen.
On day 1 of the trip, the students participating in written events began competing in the projects they had been working on for months. One of our teams, the Pink Penny Project, moved on to become state finalists in the Financial Literacy Project Event! This group of girls, Ambrielle Coughlin, A’llyssa Wallace, and Payton Heystek, worked together to teach middle school students about the importance of all things finance. Their hard work paid off as they placed in the top 10 in the state of Michigan!
This trip also included entertainment for the students. Every DECA chapter attended the 313 Pistons game that night with tickets provided by DECA! This was a great opportunity for competitors to relax and relieve their nerves before competing.
On Friday, the roleplay competitors began their competition bright and early. A team of boys, Logan Saiko and Keegan Roesner, competed in the Sports & Entertainment team Decision Making Event, something they have lots of knowledge on. This team excelled in their event, leading them to becoming state finalists!
“To prepare for the event, me and Keegan did some studying to make sure we were up to date with our topic,” Logan Saiko, senior, expressed. “We ended up becoming state finalists, meaning we were top 10 in the state of Michigan. We also received medals celebrating our high test scores. This is a huge accomplishment and it is crazy knowing we were so close to making it to internationals.”
In preparation for the competition, the role play students must take an exam to show their knowledge of their event. Our students studied long and hard, resulting in 3 exam awards among our chapter! Josey Janiga, Zachary Giessinger ll, and Damien Blair each received a medal celebrating their high exam scores.
That night, our very own Mr. Berkey treated our students to a dinner at Buddy’s Pizza, where the students ate together and talked about their thoughts on how they did. Afterwards, they attended the Opening Session, where they learned about DECA as a whole and listened to the DECA state board present.
On the final day, students woke up early in order to attend the awards ceremony. Many awards were given out to our Kearsley students. Cameron Welch and Audrina Grathoff competed in the Business & Law Team Decision Making Event and ended up punching a ticket to the National competition in Orlando, Florida! This power team will attend the conference on April 26th and continue showing their talent and competing against other excellent students.
DECA is an amazing opportunity that KHS offers and is recommended to all students interested in business, marketing, or finance. The program offers more than just skill-making; it builds teamwork and bonds among students!
