The regional DECA conference was organized by Kentlake senior Tyler Dyer who serves as the Washington State DECA Area 5 president and advisor Jane Walburn who served as Area 5 DECA 2013 conference chair.

The 28 events ranged from automotive services marketing, hotel and lodging management, to accounting applications. In individual case study events students had 10 minutes to review the business situation and formulate a solution, and then had another 10 minutes to present their solution to a judge.

In the team decision making events pairs of students reviewed a more in-depth business scenario for 30 minutes and had 10 minutes to present their solution to the judge.

The last types of events were presentations prepared before the conference that students brought and presented to the judges. Students receive helpful feedback from judges who serve as professionals in their respective fields and use that to improve for upcoming events.

Kentwood DECA qualified 30 students for the state conference. Additionally, three more students will attend the state conference based on submission of a written project.

Kentlake earned 25 medals, placing in the top 10 of their respective events. Overall 15 students from Kentlake DECA will advance on to the 66th annual Washington DECA State Career Development Conference held in Bellevue this March. They will compete with 3,500 of Washington’s best competitors for a chance to attend the International Conference held in Anaheim, California this April.