DECA, a club at Park, is beginning again this year, offering students opportunities to connect with other students and find ways to implement both leadership and entrepreneurship in their lives.

For sophomore club member, Alexa Nguyen, DECA is a club that inspires and advocates that students think for themselves, supporting club members in their growth and learning.

“DECA offers a lot of good opportunities to get involved in school, teaching students about business and preparation for the real world,” Nguyen said. “I’ve learned that I am capable of doing things on my own and have gained confidence by learning useful information that I will use even after high school and take into my life outside of academics.”

According to the DECA club advisor, Abby Lugo, this year is a complete relaunch of the DECA chapter and is a period of rebuilding, creating an environment where fresh ideas are welcome and new passion is encouraged. The club offers students an opportunity to learn to think on the fly, answer with confidence, and to take a vision and put it into motion, according to Lugo. Excited to see students grow, she said she hopes this club prepares them for the future and instills confidence, independence, and accountability into students.

“DECA is truly a club where if you can think it, you can do it,” Lugo said. “If you have a vision to do something, DECA is the club that is going to get you there. Whether that is finding the right connecting bridges or putting together a network for students to utilize, it is a club where we actually do and see things.”

Although DECA is a club where students support and help each other, it also has a competitive edge. According to Lugo, its members have the opportunity to compete in role plays, job interviews, sales demos, or putting together a business plan.

“The cool thing about competition is that there’s the district level, where everyone starts out at. This is the event where we compete with over 700 other students,” Lugo said. “Then, if you are placed in the top 12 of your event, you advance to state. After that, you go to internationals, and this year, it’s in Orlando, Florida in April.”

Despite the competition and competitive nature of the club, students are looking forward to the fun traditions DECA has, including their family partnership event coming up. For Nguyen, the event is very gratifying and provides them with an opportunity to serve our community. 

“I am most looking forward to going to the family partnership event, which is one of the field trips DECA does,” Nguyen said. “We give underprivileged kids from another community holiday presents and celebrate with them before we go on break. It’s very rewarding and exciting.”

The next DECA meeting is on Thursday, Dec. 8th at 8:00 a.m. in room B226.