DECA members qualify for national competition

Jillian Walker, Reporter

The DECA team went to the Kansas State Career Development Conference on March 6. Two teams and an individual qualified for the national competition beginning April 23 in Nashville, Tenn.

The team of Megan Myers and Luke Wardel, seniors, placed first in Role Play #1 and Role Play #2 for Business Law and Ethics Team Decision Making. Myers placed first in testing and Wardel placed fifth in testing.

Greg Walker and Taylor Allen, seniors, placed third in Role Play #1 and third overall for Sports and Entertainment Team Decision Making. Allen placed fourth in testing and Walker placed fifth in testing out of 350 students.

Ryan Hovey, junior, competed in Retail Merchandising and placed third in Role-play #1 and third overall. He will be going to nationals.

The other teams will not be attending the national competition because it takes place during Prom.

“Ms. O’Brien and I will be taking [Hovey] to Nashville,” Amanda Doane, DECA sponsor, said. “There will be a total of about 30,000 people there. It’s really huge.”

Doane predicts that Hovey will do very well at nationals.

“[Hovey] had to compete against at least 25 people to get through state and he placed third. He’ll be competing against 150 to 200 other students at the national competition,” Doane said.