District 228 DECA Teams Compete at the State Level

72 District 228 DECA Students competed at the Illinois State Competition March 7 through March 9 in Rosemont, Ill. DECA, which stands for Distributive Education Clubs of America, is a career and technical student club. Students who participate in DECA practice real-life skills in six different overreaching competitive events that include Business Management & Administration, Entrepreneurship, Marking, Finance, Hospitality & Tourism, and Personal Financial Literacy.

Students from Hillcrest High School's DECA Team

Six students from Hillcrest High School, 27 students from Bremen High School, and 39 students from Oak Forest High School competed in categories such as Integrated Marketing, Business Management, Community Service, Sports & Entertainment Marketing, Franchise Business, and more. Their hard work and determination lead to 31 individual medals for District 228 – that means nearly half of the students competing at the state level placed!

Inaya Smith from Bremen High School and Justin Meline & Peyton Nielsen from Oak Forest High School will move forward to compete past the state level at the National Competition in Orlando, Florida in April. Yosra Abdulwahid from Oak Forest High School also received the Illinois Foundation for Marketing Education (IFME) Scholarship.

Individual awards weren’t the only forms of honor and glory the District took home either. Bremen High School received the Silver Status iConnect Award for the incredible growth of its DECA program. Led by Mr. Todd Strein, this is only the second year DECA has competed since restarting their program in 2017.

Oak Forest High School also received the Silver Status iConnect Award. Additionally, Mrs. Katie Gomez received recognition as an Outstanding Chapter Advisor. This year she led her school to see a 102 percent membership increase leading them to the Super Star Chapter Award which requires schools to see a membership increase of only 20 percent. Oak Forest DECA also received the title of Most Charitable Chapter as well as a Philanthropy Award for their dedication to community service. More specifically, their partnership with the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).

Mrs. Katie Gomez from Oak Forest High School DECA

What started out as a classroom presentation about the MDA, turned into a professional relationship and a formal partnership. Oak Forest participated in the MDA Shamrock Program the past three years, but this year, DECA students wanted to do more. In order to build a foundational philanthropic relationship with The Muscular Dystrophy Association, their DECA chapter created a series of initiatives that would spur excitement while maximizing donations and awareness about Muscular Dystrophy.

Oak Forest High School DECA Students with their "Bengal Bean" and check for the MDA

They created a coffee bar called “The Bengal Bean,” appropriately named after their school mascot. Every Friday, the team would collectively collaborate to come up with ideas for a special drink in which 100 percent of the proceeds would be directly donated to the MDA. Since their coffee businesses opened in September, their chapter has raised over $400.00 for the MDA.

Congratulations to all of the students who competed and best of luck to those moving forward!