Over five hundred students from 28 DECA Chapters competed at the Nebraska State Career Development Conference in Lincoln on March 14th & 15th. Fifty-seven students from the Scottsbluff DECA Chapter qualified to attend the conference, held at the Cornhusker Hotel. Students competed in a variety of events from written tests and judged role plays to written marketing research projects, advertising campaigns, entrepreneurship projects as well as team management decision making competitions. Students who placed in the top three in an event qualified for the International DECA Career Development Conference to be held in Anaheim, California on April 26-May 1, 2024.
Scottsbluff DECA enjoyed another successful year, placing in 21 events and auto-qualifying 9 members for the International Conference in Anaheim. Thirteen total qualifiers will compete at the conference in Anaheim this year. The top 3 winners/auto-qualifiers and their events are as follows:
Maci Dorshorst – Financial Consulting Event – 1st place
Hannah Shaddick – Hospitality & Tourism Selling Event – 1st place
Emilee Bentley – Professional Selling Event – 1st place
Emilee Bentley – Apparel & Accessories Marketing – 3rd place
Kian Blomstedt – Financial Consulting Event – 2nd place
Max Howell – Hotel & Lodging Management – 3rd place
Nielli Heinold & Abby Roberts – Finance Team Decision Making – 3rd place
Joel Painter & Tallon McDonald – Sales Project – 1st place
Several other members placed in the top 8 in their respective role-play events which earned them a medal and the possibility of qualifying for the International Conference. Members who placed in the top 4 for written events did not receive a medal but were able to qualify for the International Conference.
Nadaley Tarr – Accounting – Medalist
Mia Sutton – Financial Consulting – 4th place
Isaiah Brown – Financial Consulting – 3rd place
Emily Natale – Hospitality & Tourism Selling Event – 4th
Marissa Haun – Restaurant Full Service Marketing – Medalist
Dre Casillas – Business Finance – Medalist
Taylor Bruce – Food Marketing – Medalist
Isaiah Brown – Principles of Business Administration – Medalist
Tallon McDonald – Business Services – Medalist
Taylor Hafeman – Accounting – Medalist
MaCee Neu – Human Resources Management – Medalist
Angel Arellano – Personal Financial Literacy – Medalist
Cord Symons – Sports & Entertainment Marketing – Medalist
Brooke Crane & Dyllan Gies – Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making – Medalists
Maci Dorshorst & Hannah Shaddick – Sports & Tourism Team Decision Making – Medalists
Zavanah Chavez & Nadaley Tarr – Integrated Marketing Campaign Product – 3rd
Nielli Heinold, Madelynn Kovarik, & Abigail Roberts – Business Solutions Project – 4th place
More notable achievements include: Maci Dorshorst earned Gold Certification for the Cat Shack (DECA school store), Scottsbluff swept the top 4 places in the Financial Consulting Event, several members placed top 3 in either their exam or one of the role plays.