DECA participant Elizabeth Ramos describes DECA as a business competition where you roleplay a specific scenario or present a written project in teams or independently based around a different business category. Some of DECA’s categories include hospitality and tourism, finance, marketing, entrepreneurship, and business management and administration. Many students from DECA feel that people don’t fully understand what they do in the group, and how it benefits them in the long run. DECA prepares its participants with skills they may need in future careers such as interview skills, independence, and different business knowledge. Many of Somerset Berkley’sDECA participants have put these skills to use in impressive projects.

The written project portion of the club–although more unpopular than the roleplays–have been done on a variety of topics. One project form SBRHS was done on the benefits of nuclear and solar energy while another was on local businesses avoiding plastic use. Elizabeth Ramos and Jacob Milan believe that most people in Somerset steer away from these projects due to the amount of time they take. The written projects are done over the course of a year while roleplays require less pre-planning. Some other schools have DECA as a class, which gives students time to work on written projects. Ramos and Milan believe that a similar program here at Somerset-Berkley might allow more people to try out these longer projects and increase participation in DECA itself.

Compared to many other schools, Somerset Berkley has a fairly small DECA program. Ramos and Milan said that King Philips High School brought around 350 students to a conference in Boston that took place February 27-29. This conference attracted around 3000 students from 40-50 different schools with participants competing in categories of about 50. Although Somerset Berkley’s program may not reach into the hundreds, the club has many fundraising efforts to finance their group. Their main fundraiser is their jewelry sale from Periwinkle, which they often sell outside of banks, churches, and other public places. They also send out donation links to friends and family and sell chocolate and calendars. 

Recently, a group of eleven students from SBRHS were accepted into the international DECA conference taking place in Nashville later this year. Due to the wide array of people from around the world who are supposed to be attending, there are some unconfirmed concerns around the fate of the event. Fears concerning the Coronavirus as well as a recent tornado in Tennessee that caused damage to the Nashville airport lead many to wonder if the event will still go on. There has been no talk yet about canceling the conference, and Somerset Berkley still plans to go as of now.