Two McDonald County High School students qualified for the DECA International Career Development Conference in Atlanta, Ga.
Seniors Tony Jaquez and Payton Sargent competed at district and state levels with other students and were the only ones from McDonald County to make it to internationals.
DECA advisor Jeff Harrison said DECA is a co-curricular, vocational organization of marketing students. He has been a sponsor for 17 years.
"They did a really good job," he said of Jaquez and Sargent, noting the same two went to internationals last year.
He said at the event, they will take a multiple choice test and then do a case study. Their event is hospitality and tourism. They will be presented with a scenario and have 20 minutes to solve it.
"It's like role play," Harrison said.
He said he is proud and will be really proud if they get called up on stage at internationals.
Jaquez explained how he became involved with DECA. He said he had taken two business classes and he received a letter encouraging him to take another business class because he had done so well. He decided on marketing.
"If you're in marketing, you have to be in DECA. They're co-curricular," he said.
Sargent said she was in debate as a freshman and, in her sophomore year, the president of the debate club told her about DECA's public speaking aspect. That was how she decided to become involved.
For their role play, they take on the role of a hotel manager, usually, and are presented with a problem and have to present a plan of how to overcome business obstacles, Sargent said.
Sargent said she wants to do marketing as a career, and Jaquez also said he wants to study marketing in college.
"It's a lot more than making a billboard or advertising," Jaquez said. "It's every step of taking a product from the assembly line to the customer."
Sargent said, "It's a very broad spectrum of opportunities and it's never going to be a 9 to 5. It's something I can always move up with. Plus I'm pretty good at it."
Internationals will be a five- to a six-day event with one day of competition, Sargent said. There will be college and business vendors.
"We get to do fun stuff and meet other like-minded kids," Jaquez said. "It was pretty fun last year. I'm sure it's going to be even more fun this year."
Sargent said students from all states and seven countries will be in attendance, and they will get to swap pins with their peers.
Last year's event was in Anaheim, Calif., and they went to Disneyland and the beach, Sargent said. This year they will go to Six Flags and enjoy the arts and culture of Atlanta. She said it will be a time for them to reap the benefits of their labor.
The students will be in Atlanta April 20-25.
General News on 04/19/2018