New Montezuma DECA Chapter excels at district competition

      The newly formed 11-member DECA Chapter at Montezuma High School recently competed in district competition on Nov. 20 at Simpson College where four students brought home top honors. Briar Simpson, middle back, earned 3rd place honors in Principles of Marketing while Alexa Rose and the team of Elizabeth DeJong, front middle, and Taylor Wilcox, back row, second from left, were named district finalists and recognized on stage with Honorable Mention honors.

​By J.O. Parker
 
     A new DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) chapter at Montezuma is already showing momentum as four high school students recently brought home top honors at district competition at Simpson College on Nov. 20.
      Briar Simpson earned 3rd place honors in Principles of Marketing while Alexa Rose and the team of Elizabeth DeJong and Taylor Wilcox were named district finalists and recognized on stage with Honorable Mention honors.
     “We had a great experience at our first DECA competition as a school,” noted Kevin Gartman, DECA sponsor and business education teacher at Montezuma. “While there are many levels of competitions, including projects and papers, our students in our chapter are focused on the role play competitions. Students in role play competitions are given 10 minutes to analyze a case study that is new to them and prepare notes to handle a role play conversation with a judge.”
      The judge may be a boss, a new employee, an angry customer, or any other sort of role. Students are assessed on their ability to showcase business knowledge of designated standards as well as their ability to communicate clearly, think critically, and answer questions from the judge.
      “These role play scores are combined with multiple choice test scores to create a total competition scored, to which they are compared against their peers,” Gartman said.
       The Montezuma DECA Chapter has 11 members.
      Schools joining Montezuma at district competition were ACGC, ADM, Bondurant-Farrar, Carlisle, Colfax-Mingo, Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln, Dallas Center-Grimes, Newton, PCM, Southeast Polk, Urbandale, and WDM Valley.
    “Students have grown so much in their critical thinking and self-confidence in this last month of preparation,” said Gartman. “I can’t wait to watch our kids grow from today to mid-February, while hoping to add some more students to the mix before state competition.”
        All students will compete at the DECA State Competition on Feb. 16 at Southeast Polk High School followed by results and conference sessions at the FFA Enrichment Center in Ankeny on Feb. 17.

       The team of Elizabeth DeJong and Taylor Wilcox, left, were named district finalists and recognized on stage with Honorable Mention honors in the Hospitality Services Team Decision Making competition. Middle, Alexa Rose received honorable mention honors for participating in the Principles of Entrepreneurship competition. Right, Briar Simpson earned 3rd place honors in Principles of Marketing competition at districts.