The DECA State Conference will be from Feb. 10-13 in Portland, OR. South DECA students will be staying at the Red Lion Hotel in Jantzen Beach, Portland.

DECA works to prepare students and leaders for careers in management, entrepreneurship and marketing. During the state conference, students will present their business plans and compete as a team for who will go on to nationals. South DECA students will compete to win awards and move on to Nationals.

“We are able to develop advertising campaigns and businesses that we enjoy creating […] my written projects have included business plans for a healthy tea shop, a recycle friendly makerspace and an ugly produce subscription service to fight food waste,” Ashley Zhu ‘18, South Salem’s DECA president, said.

At State, DECA students compete in two areas: role plays and written events. DECA students do not have to prepare a speech for a large crowd, only the single person that assesses their work. “For written events, our presentations are polished by the time we go to state while role plays we make up as we go. Both are great ways to develop presentation skills without having to speak to a large audience!” Zhu said.

In the past, state conferences have gone similarly, and the DECA students competed in the same two areas. “We compete each day against other chapters in addition to South Salem DECA only events,” Zhu said, of DECA state, “When we aren’t competing you get to hang out and practice with friends […] Our chapter dominates, taking about half of the total awards.”