At a competition, DECA president senior Dominique Curry, walks into the building with an aspiration to win. He is confident and knows what to expect, filled with a feeling of familiarity. Meanwhile, sophomore Mackenzie Smock, a first-year DECA member, walks in feeling nervous. She doesn’t know what to expect. Both students have different ideas of how the day will progress. DECA is just like that; one mission with multiple journeys. “What gets me excited about DECA is just because it can take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to the real world. Whether it’s for this or really just any job, you learn those leadership speaking skills, communication skills, and then just also to put yourself out there with other people,” adviser Dawn Danauskas said.
DECA is an acronym for the Distributive Education Clubs of America. It is an organization dedicated to future business leaders, built to prepare students for the real world. DECA gives young scholars the opportunity to travel and learn hands- on for their future careers. They meet about once a month in GPS and work on the topics that they choose to compete in, including Business Management and Administration, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Hospitality and Tourism, Marketing, and Personal Financial Literacy.
“DECA’s been around since 1946. It started out with students taking their classroom experience and going into the work site… I think it’s evolving, with what’s going on in the future… You’re going to learn what’s really happening with today’s businesses,” Danauskas said.
Ever since COVID-19, DECA’s number of members has significantly decreased. Bellevue East’s DECA is looking for students who are interested in business.
“I would say it has gotten worse because there are fewer and fewer members every year. This year, there’s definitely more members than last year, so that’s the bright side, but it’s definitely not as much as it used to be,” Curry said.
DECA prepares students for real-life scenarios where they must meet new people and communicate. It may bring students out of their comfort zone, but with time they may gradually come out of their shell.
“I haven’t quite met a lot of people yet, but I’m excited that I get to meet people with the same interests that I have once we start competitions and traveling.” sophomore Mackenzie Smock said.
DECA will be traveling to California this year where they will visit Disneyland, California Adventure Park, Hollywood and Universal Studios, and the ocean. The parks are all rented out to DECA students. It gives students a lot of time to explore new places and have fun. One student who has done DECA for two years and is now Curry, has said that he has made enjoyable memories while traveling with DECA and recommends it to.
“DECA gives you a chance to walk around during the state competition, so if you ask me, it was just an experience for myself to explore certain aspects of Nebraska I haven’t been to,” Curry said.
However, the cost of these trips always covered. DECA members work together by fund raising and working in the school store to build up the funds to go on these trips.
“I plan on selling the cards that our DECA chapter does because it’s a good deal. $10 for a coupon that you can use multiple times, and I get $9 dollars from the sale to go towards any type of fee,” Smock said.
DECA offers numerous opportunities for students to get hands-on experience in their future career. No experience is required, just dedication and commitment.
“I think they should join DECA because it doesn’t take a huge time commitment, but you can still get so much out of it… The skills you learn in DECA can apply to everywhere. The people that you meet throughout DECA are super nice, and everybody’s excited and friendly. It’s a good lifelong activity,” Danauskas said.