Rhinelander DECA students compete at state

From Feb. 22 to 25, 13 Rhinelander High School students competed at the Wisconsin DECA State Career Development Conference in Lake Geneva.

DECA is an organization that helps prepare students for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. DECA has events from Finance and Banking Systems to Sports and Entertainment Marketing and includes both team and individual events. 

At State, students had to take a 100-question test concerning the field their event is in, as well as an economics test. They also performed two role plays in which the student is given a business situation and must act it out to resolve the issue with a judge. Medals are awarded to students for earning high scores in their tests, on either of their role plays, and for placing in the top ten of their event. 

Three students were recognized on stage for their performance in the Community Service Giving Project: Josh Haselton, Sam Caselton and Kam Kostrova. Also competing at the state level were Dom Hakala (Apparel & Accessories), Hank Kowieski (Sports & Entertainment Marketing), Soren Dumar (Personal Financial Literacy), Grant Gremban (Sports & Entertainment Marketing), Amelia MacIntyre and Lexi Terzinski (Hospitality Team Decision Making), Emmaline Kramsvogel (Hotel & Lodging), Katie Tran and Addy Stobel (Business Law & Ethics Team Decision Making) and Alexa Segova (Business Services).

Rhinelander DECA was also recognized for their accomplishments as a chapter this year. First, they received recognition for their Community Service Campaign which included Acts of Kindness, General Contributions to Charity, 100 Hours, Top 5 MDA Contributor, Color a Smile, and Trick or Can. Secondly, they were recognized for the Thrive Level Chapter Promotion Campaign, Thrive Level Chapter Campaign, and Wisconsin Gold Chapter. 

Overall, Rhinelander DECA had a very successful State conference and hopes to continue their involvement in the community for years to come. Chapter advisor Mischell Fryar was very impressed by the hard work of all of the competitors, many of which were competing at the state level for the first time. If you have any questions or would like to make a donation to assist with travel expenses for ICDC, please contact Fryar at 715-365-9500 or [email protected].