Recently, 60 Ranch students returned from a weekend at the Broadmoor for the DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) state competition. The students who attended had to first compete in the district competition in November of 2019 to qualify or submit their written event.

   Students participating in DECA are all part of the Marketing class taught by Jamie Young. Participation in DECA is optional in Marketing I, but is required in Marketing II. 

   At DECA competitions, the students are given business scenarios and must come up with a solution to the problem at hand. Young said, “They may be given a situation where the hotel flooded, and now they have to find new accommodations for the guests. They must plan what they are going to do and the steps they are going to take.”

   Students are scored by local adult judges at the competition and then have an award ceremony to see who is qualified for the next competition. However, written events are business plans where they have to promote a new product or new event. Young said, “Some students started up business plans where they came up with a new cereal.”

   The six Ranch students to qualify for the next competition, nationals, were Ushmi Akruwala, Charlie Wells, Oscar Serrano, Samu Strestha, Konor Lathrop, and Ryan Rule. Several other students made finals which is the top 12 from the competition, and they are alternates to go to nationals on April 28-May 3 in Nashville, Tennessee. 

   Students Konor Lathrop and Ryan Rule were able to place second in Sports and Entertainment Marketing and reach their goal of going to nationals. Lathrop said, “Ryan and I work really well as a team. We feed off each other’s energy and ideas. Ryan has a vast knowledge of marketing and campaign ideas, while I contribute the customer service and promotional aspects of our role plays.”

   Part of the reason students love DECA so much is because of the trips they go on. Young said, “In Nashville, we’ll go to the Grand Ole Opry, do boat rides, a lot of different activities, and of course, eat some really good food.”

Camryn Montgomery, Staff Reporter