BC DECA has truly outdone itself with national recognition! DECA is a worldwide association of marketing students that are determined to be “academically prepared, community oriented, professionally responsible, and experienced leaders.”  Our very own DECA has earned THRIVE level recognition, which allows DECA advisor, Mrs. Fisher, to choose three members to participate in the THRIVE Academy at DECA’s International Career Development Conference in Orlando Florida. Also, the BC DECA team will receive a pennant, plaque, and official DECA flag.

“Our national recognition was so meaningful!” said Olivia Walleser (’15), a BC DECA president. “It meant that all of our hard work as an officer team paid off. We all wanted to make DECA the best it could possibly be, and getting recognized made it all worth it.”

Additionally, BC DECA competed in the Wisconsin DECA District Competition on January 10. A total of 22 DECA members qualified for state, including students from each grade level.  The top competitors at state will then move on to compete in the 2015 International Career Development Conference (ICDC), held in Orlando, Florida, this year.

Last year, Julia Thrisle (’15) had the chance to attend the 2014 International Career Developmetn Conference. “My favorite DECA experience is traveling to Atlanta, Georgia for the International Career Development Conference. I got to network with other students from across the globe, see the city, and compete by business project with my partner Brad.”

DECA members are not just people who dress to impress; they have a big heart for the community. In October of 2014, BC DECA participated in the “Trick-or-Can” project, a community service campaign that donated cans to a local food pantry. Instead of asking for candy on Halloween, DECA members embraced the chilling weather to collect non-perishable food items from surrounding neighborhoods. Over one hundred bags of food were given to the pantry.

Along with community service, DECA focused on school participation. During a fun-filled week of events, DECA diamonds were placed around the school on every member’s locker. On Monday, the “We Are Golden” video was shown through all lunch hours to celebrate Wisconsin DECA’s 50 anniversary. Tuesday, over one hundred members wore their DECA T-shirts to raise awareness of DECA. Students dressed in formal business attire on Wednesday for DECA’s “Dress for Success” day. On Thursday, a “Miracle Minute” fundraiser was held, in which DECA members only had one minute during lunch periods to collect funds for Muscular Dystrophy. All their efforts were rewarded with a Friday movie night. This week of November 10 to November 14 was officially declared as DECA week by Mayor Steve Ponto.

These acts of community service and promotional campaign earned our BC DECA their well-deserved national recognition.

Mrs. Fisher, the DECA advisor, said “My favorite DECA experience has been watching the chapter grow and become more successful over the last five years. Second to that was State 2014 when BC DECA earned recognition for all of the activities and campaigns we participated in. Next year, I hope we are able to complete all five DECA, Inc. campaigns as well as continue to grow our membership. I also hope we will be able to do more school events in the coming years.”