By: Amber Wilson

On December 2 Apex’s DECA chapter ventured to the Raleigh Convention Center to compete in their District competition. After returning to in-person competitions, Apex’s chapter placed third out of 22 schools.

DECA is an international marketing and entrepreneurship club, exposing future leaders to the business world in an interactive way. Every year, there are three competitions: Districts, States, and Nationals. There are ten districts in the state of North Carolina and Apex is part of district three. District three encompasses many schools in the area including Friendship, Green Hope, and Middle Creek. There are a wide variety of events to compete in, from Sports and Entertainment Marketing, to Hospitality and Tourism.

The District competition is composed of two segments: a 100-question test and a roleplay. Exams were taken a few weeks prior to the competition in Raleigh, and the roleplay was completed at the convention center. Roleplays are like case studies, where students are given a business scenario and a problem to solve. Solo roleplays have 10 minutes to prepare their ideas after receiving their exclusive scenario, and team events have 30 minutes. In addition to solving the problem presented, students are given a list of performance indicators to include while giving their pitch to the judge. Performance indicators usually include ethics and other important aspects of being a businessperson. After the planning period students give their pitch to a judge who is an expert in their field/event. Students present their solutions to the issue provided in the scenario, and discuss any other ideas they came up with. After concluding the interaction, the judge gives each student a score out of 100. 

There are three categories for medaling at Districts: outstanding test score, outstanding roleplay, or top 10 overall placement. This means a student’s combined test score and roleplay score was one of the top ten in their event. Apex had numerous students medal in their respective events, and even more qualified for the State competition!

Club advisor Mr. Yunker is incredibly proud of all of the DECA Members who competed at Districts. He encourages those who qualified for the State competition to begin preparing: “students who achieve success prepare themselves: practice content, roleplays, and go to the workshops in January!” Additionally, he encourages everyone to check out the club for next year! The only requirement to join is to have taken or currently be taking at least one CTE class (a national DECA rule). If DECA sounds like a club that interests you, be sure to check out their booth at the CTE Fair in the spring and join next year!

To stay in the loop with DECA, follow their social media accounts!

Instagram: @apexdeca

Twitter: @Apex_DECA