DECA Qualifies Four For Nationals

by Josh Conrad
4.17.07

Four students at PL South have shown their aptitude in the many facets of marketing by qualifying for the national DECA competition. The competition will take place at the DECA International Career Development
Conference on April 26-29 in Atlanta, Ga.

To qualify for Nationals, each participant had to place
third or better at Districts and then at State. After qualifying, competitors are preparing to make the next step in their journey.

Seniors Sarah Kohler and Kellie McFeely worked together in the Advertising Campaign category. The
team worked with Kajoma’s Boutique, a fashion store
in downtown Papillion, to create an advertising strategy in an effort to bring more business to the small store.

The team was able to choose the business to work with, and in this case it was an easy decision.

“We had both stopped in to Kajoma’s before and saw
that it carries a lot of brands that other stores don’t have,” Kohler said. “We thought it fit us for this project.”

Kohler and McFeely conducted public surveys to decide the store’s target market, worked with ownership to create advertising and involved the business in a silent auction.

For competition, Kohler and McFeely created a presentation reporting the effects their advertising
campaign had on the business. This presentation won the pair first place at State and qualified the team for the national competition.

“Because we got first at State, we are excited to see
how we will place against the competition at Nationals,” McFeely said.

Junior Martin MacNabb placed third in Automotive Service Management at the state competition to qualify for Nationals and is looking forward to the experience.

“I’m excited to meet new people and compete against the best,” MacNabb said. “I want to give it my best shot and come home with the gold.”

For this category, participants took a written test and took part in a role-play where students were judged on how they handled real-life situations. Junior Ryan Compton also qualified for Nationals in the Food Services category, which followed the same competition format.

With all the competitive success that DECA has seen this year, DECA adviser Stephanie Kruse sees how
this competition can affect students.

“It’s exciting to watch them create and get excited and put their personalities into their work,” Kruse said.