DECA students qualify for leadership academy | News

TEWKSBURY — Contin­uing the tradition of student leadership in Tewks­bury, the TMHS DECA Chapter participated in the 66th annual Massachu­setts DECA State Career De­velopment Conference at the Westin Seaport and Boston Convention & Exhi­bition Center recently.

Students participated in one of three types of competitions, each judged by business professionals. For the Role Play competition, students took a 100 question exam then performed two role plays with the volunteer professionals. The students were asked to solve a problem and present a solution while covering specific performance indicators.

For the Written project, competitors wrote a 10 or 20 page paper about project management, operations research and entrepreneurial business plans.

For the Hybrid competition, integrated marketing campaigns and professional selling plans were developed. The students took a 100-question test, submitted a 10-page paper proposing a 45-day marketing campaign, and presented their campaign to a judge. Professional selling competitors took a 100-question test and then presented their sales research in the areas of finance, hospitality or marketing to a judge.

According to advisor James Sullivan, 13 students from the TMHS DECA or­ganization qualified to at­tend the International Ca­reer Development Confer­ence (ICDC) in Orlando, FL. In addition, five TMHS students will attend the Lead­ership Development Acade­my at ICDC in Orlando through qualifying Chapter Campaigns on the state and national levels.

These campaigns are managed and executed by the TMHS DECA members and officer team. Students attending this Leadership Development Academy will gain skills they can bring back to the school to prepare them to be leaders in the future, both through DECA and in their personal lives, according to Sulli­van.

DECA is a co-curricular organization for high school students that builds transferable skills for college and career with over 200,000 members in all 50 states, four US territories, Cana­da, Mexico, Germany, Ko­rea, and beyond. DECA stresses community invol­vement and service.

The TMHS DECA program is led by Sullivan, 25-year DECA Advisor and business teacher, and is supported by volunteer secondary advisors and teachers Erin Murphy and MaryJo Kelleher at the high school. The program has been at the high school for over 45 years, credited to Dr. Cynthia Basteri, who continues to support both TMHS DECA and MASS DECA, according to Sulli­van.

The TMHS DECA club at TMHS totaled over 100 mem­bers this year. Faculty and staff support, along with alumni and parent volunteers help keep the program running.

To learn more about DECA, visit www.deca.org and www.madeca.org.