14/15 of JHS DECA members make it to state

Kelly Lu, Staff Writer

On Friday, January 31, DECA sectionals took place at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills. DECA chapters from schools in Southern Illinois came to the Chicago area to compete in this event, including the chapter from Jacksonville High School. In the competition, members choose options such as doing a roleplay, a written event and a virtual challenge. 

In a roleplay, the member receives a scenario and ten minutes to take notes about the details of the situation and what they are going to say; then, they are put in front of a judge to act as the role described in the scenario and explain their ideas. The topic of a roleplay depends on what category the member is in (there are many) and it is scored out of 100. Those who only do roleplays take a 100-question test based on their category called a “cluster” test. The score one receives in regionals is the average between their roleplay score and test score. 

In a written event, the DECA member writes a paper up to 20 pages depending on the category, and gives an oral presentation on that information as well as a designated roleplay. Those who receive the top three scores in each category continue on to state. 

Jacksonville High School’s DECA chapter consists of 15 members and 14, all but one, qualified for state. In the past, only 4-6 members have gone to state each year so this is a huge record for the school. 

“As this is my second year in DECA, I felt even more excited and ready than I did last year. I participated in Business Finance. I did my best and landed a spot at state,” said Madison Fanning, co-president of the chapter at JHS.  Now with experience at regionals and some with experience at state during the previous years, this team of problem-solvers is more ready to tackle roleplays and tests at the next level of competition.

Of course, practice makes perfect and that is exactly what these members will do to further prepare for March 17, the day of the Illinois state competition.