The DECA clubs from Cardinal Heights Upper Middle School and Sun Prairie High School will host the DECA District 3 Competition (called the Career Development Conference) at Sun Prairie High School this Saturday, January 14.  More than 650 students from 17 area schools will be competing, including 64 students from Sun Prairie High School and 45 from Cardinal Heights.  DECA is a student club designed to prepare members for careers in marketing, management, and entrepreneurship.

Each January, Wisconsin DECA District Conferences are held throughout the state of Wisconsin allowing DECA student members the opportunity to apply their marketing knowledge in competitive situations. They compete in either individual or team events consisting of two role-plays and one to two tests. Local business and community leaders volunteer to judge the role-plays.  The District competition is the spring board for students who want to move on to the State conference (held in Lake Geneva in March) and the International conference (held in Salt Lake City in April). Due to the growth in DECA student members and schools,  the District 3 group will continue to hold its district conference at Sun Prairie High School as it has space to accommodate such a large competition.

High School Marketing Teacher Sarah Hart-Olson is advisor for the high school DECA Club.  "This authentic assessment of marketing classroom content is the start of the competition season that is greatly anticipated each year by students and advisors," said Olson.  "Months of planning and practice goes into the District Career Development Conference.  It is the first step that could lead to the conclusion of competition and final celebration of learning at the International Career Development Conference in Salt Lake City."

See an example of the great DECA student group here in this year's chapter recruitment video.

District 3 high schools to compete this Saturday include: Beloit Memorial, Cambridget, Cardinal Heights, DeForest, Dodgeville, Janesville Craig, Janesville Parker, Jefferson, Madison, LaFollette, Madison West, McFarland, Middleton, Monona Grove, Mount Horeb, Oregon, Sun Prairie, and Waunakee.

The top two finishers in each area advance to the State competition in Lake Geneva. At the State conference, the top seven earn the right to represent Wisconsin at the International Competition in Salt Lake City, UT.

Good luck to our Sun Prairie DECA students!