The Washburn Rural DECA club attended the state competition on March 4-5. It was held in Manhattan at the Kansas State campus. The students competed in a variety of events, including presentations, role plays, and testing. Seniors Harper Zimlich, Nadia Jackson, Sydney Yost, Emma Getsinger, and sophomore James Fakoury will attend the national conference in April in Orlando, FL. This was Fakoury’s second year attending the state competition.

“DECA is a prime opportunity to learn more about the business world and gain experience with those who share similar aspirations as you,” Fakoury said.

Washburn Rural DECA President Harper Zimlich appreciates how supportive the club members are of each other.

“My favorite part was the support we all showed for our team during the awards ceremony,” Zimlich said.

Junior Tatum Knudtson says her group did not perform as well as they hoped to, but it was a good learning experience to help them for next year’s competition.

“Through doing my project I was forced to step outside my bubble and do things like teaching a classroom full of kids and presenting my ideas in front of a judge,” Knudtson said.

Junior Aum Parikh says he has gained better communication skills and quick thinking techniques from DECA.

“I enjoyed playing around with the prompts and the scenarios [at the competition],” Parikh said.

Knudtson enjoys meeting new people through the club.

“State DECA was such a fun experience getting to know and become better friends with new people that all have similar interests,” Knudtson said.

Knudtson encourages students who join next year to choose a project they will enjoy working on.

“I would tell future DECA members to pick a project that truly interests them and they are passionate about because they will be spending a lot of time with it throughout the school year,” Knudtson said. “I spent many hours working on the written portion of our project and doing all the activities that were involved with it, and after my group prepared our presentation for the judge.”

Parikh also encourages students to join DECA next year, especially those who want a career in business.
“Do something you will enjoy. And if you don’t have much school work, do a research [project],” Parikh said.

Zimlich is glad to see the club size expanding as more students join.

“It’s been exciting to see how much our club has grown in just a year,” Zimlich said. “State was so much fun and it was great getting to know everyone better.”