DECA

December 1, 2009  
Filed under News, Uncategorized

There are nearly thirty clubs here at Mountain View High School (some clubs may be inactive), but one club in particular really prepares you for the future and gives you the tools to guide you to your future career. This club is called DECA.

DECA is an international association of high school and college students studying marketing, management, and entrepreneurship in business, finance, hospitality and marketing sales and service. DECA used to be an acronym for Distributive Educational Clubs of America, but now the term DECA is just associated with students in marketing. DECA is a club/program that offers a place where one can take a further look into career choices. In DECA, you choose a career that you are interested in and you get a skit to role play for that particular career. Usually you work with at least two or three other DECA members. Each person gets a different role to act out. For instance, say you chose clothes merchandizing, you would receive a skit to play out with other DECA members, and it would teach you how to react in that scenario. You learn what to do if you came into contact with an upset customer or with any type of customer for that matter. If you wanted a career in auto mechanics, you would be given a scenario where you would pretend that you were actually an auto mechanic and you would have to decide how you would handle that situation.

“DECA puts me in situations which I have to use business skills, so it prepares me for real life business situations,” said Dominique Relei

DECA meets every Wednesday after school in B4. Mr. Davis is the DECA advisor. Senior,  Jackie  Ngyuen is the President of the DECA club and Dominique Relei is the Vice resident of DECA this year.  Very many people at MVHS even know what DECA is, but they should if they wish to partake in a program that can give them the tools for a certain career. The DECA program helps students develop skills for successful business careers, build self-esteem, experience leadership and practice community service.

This year the DECA program is striving to go to competition. In order to go to competition you need to take a one hundred question test on the topic you have been studying and preparing for. If you are one of the top three contesters you get to go to regionals, and then state. If at State you place in the top three, then you move on to nationals. At competition you go in front of one or more judges, the judge gives you a scenario to act out and gives you fifteen minutes to prepare. For instance, you’re given a situation where you work at a hotel, and you have to work with a displeased customer. After you prepare for your skit you go in front of the judge and role play.  You pretend that you actually were treating a displeased customer and you would have to be helpful and be able to contain yourself in order to satisfy your customer. If you act the situation out in a respectful, desirable manner, you may have a chance to go to nationals.

“My goal this year is to go to state. My main goal for DECA is to have it more known here at Mountain View,” said Ngyuen.

DECA teaches you the people skills necessary for the future and gives you beneficial tools to succeed in the real world. Plus, DECA looks great on college applications, which helps any high school student planning on going to college.