On Nov. 11, Middleton DECA hosted their first competition of the year. It was a collaboration between Middleton and Madison West DECA.
The competition ran from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., and was a comprehensive experience for new DECA members.
DECA is a club offered at Middleton High School (MHS) which specializes in helping students grow and prepare for careers in the business, marketing, finance, entrepreneurship and hospitality sectors. The club goes to multiple competitions each year, including Districts in January, State in late February, and Internationals in April.
In official DECA competitions, students complete a 100-question multiple choice test and two roleplays related to their event. During roleplays, students are given a scenario that corresponds to a real-life situation. Students are to consult the judges based on the scenario while demonstrating performance indicators in their event, which are benchmarks they have to meet. Performance indicators can be anything from “Explain the nature of positive customer relations” to “Identify factors affecting a business’s profit.” For example, if a student receives a roleplay about an upset customer, it would be likely that the judge would be playing the role of the customer and the competitor might be a customer service representative. They might be scored on their proficiency of a performance indicator like “Handle customer/client complaints.”
Club members competed in two separate groups during the Invite, giving students the chance to compete against their own teammates.
According to MHS marketing teacher and DECA advisor Robert Hutchison, “It’s a practice for the official Districts competition in January. [For students] who have never competed before, they’re going to be nervous…they’re not going to know what to expect. The Mid-West competition [lets them] get experience on what roleplays are like.”
Several students won medals at the competition; sophomore Kriti Mitra was named Middleton’s Series Champion. She performed well in roleplays focused on business services and retail marketing, and completed a 50-question marketing test.
“[The invite] helped me get back into the competition mindset,” Mitra said.
This school year’s DECA Districts competition for the Madison region is set to be held at DeForest High School in early January. Those who advance to State will spend three days competing in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Internationals, the most awaited level, will take place in 2024 in Anaheim, California, which is known for being the home of Disneyland. Students on this trip will get to experience the parks, attractions and cuisine, as well as compete against the best DECA competitors from around the world.
Because the competitions are so anticipated, many students will be studying long before them. Mitra recommends that DECA students use Competition University, a marketing prep website.
“It’s a really great resource [for studying],” Mitra said.
For more information about DECA, MHS students can visit https://www.wideca.org/ or contact Hutchison.
