The Brookfield Chapter of the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) commemorated its establishment and spread awareness of the upcoming competition season through celebrations in what is now known as “DECA Week.” Declared by Mayor Steve Ponto, DECA week took place from Nov. 9-15 and was designed to raise awareness of DECA throughout the community, inspiring support and participation from residents and students.

“We were looking to get as many kids aware of the club as possible, and to get our members involved and excited for our upcoming competition season,” said chapter officer Julia Thistle (’15).

The week began with a celebration of DECA’s 50 anniversary, on which the chapter video was displayed in all lunch periods. On Tuesday, officers and members held a student and teacher appreciation day where students and teachers were able to nominate one another for recognition of leadership and quality character. Wednesday saw some fine fabrics with DECA’s “Dress for Success Day,” where students were prompted to wear business formal attire, qualifying them to enter a drawing for a Buffalo Wild Wings gift card. On Thursday, DECA members demonstrated their devotion to improvement and others by hosting the “MiracleMinute” fundraiser, a nationally recognized project designed to raise funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Finally, concluding the 2014 DECA Week, the chapter hosted a movie night, Friday evening.

“The whole week went really well,” said Thistle. “Mrs. Fisher helped us plan it perfectly.”

DECA managed to effectively reach a large number of students, as Nick Peters (’15) said,  “I hadn’t even heard of DECA before then, and now all of my friends have joined. They seem pretty excited about it, too.”

Registration for the 2014-15 competition season closed upon the consummation of DECA Week, yet there are always opportunities to remain engaged and the prospect of participation remains viable for future seasons, and is encouraged as the club continues to grow. For more information regarding DECA’s mission or how to get involved, contact Mrs. Fisher or any of the chapter officers.