14 students represented Annandale at the 2017 DECA State Leadership Conference at Virginia Beach. The conference started on Friday, March 3 and lasted through Sunday, March 5.

The conference featured students from all across Virginia and who came to represent their school in the hopes of advancing to the National level.

“[My DECA friends and I] went because we thought it would be a great chance to do something out of school on a bigger stage,” senior DECA member TJ Ullah said. “We wanted to go and represent Annandale.”
The conference features many different categories and competitions that students could compete in from Hospitality and Tourism to Finance, Marketing and more.
“[Everyone] on the trip had signed up to be competing in events such as fashion marketing and sports marketing,” Ullah said. “Some of us had essays to write and speak to judges about our ideas for the categories we picked and others had to do role play events in which they acted out what companies should do.”

The Annandale Chapter was awarded the Top Growth Overall Percentage. Although no Atoms won in their category it was still a good practice for real world, workplace scenarios.

“All of the students learned valuable lessons in teamwork and critical thinking by being a part of the Conference. Most importantly, all 15 students represented Annandale High School grace and dignity,” DECA Advisor Mick Strand said. “I was proud to have them represent me as their advisor and the school.”

DECA, as an organization, prides itself on preparing “emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe.”

“Deca is kinda like FBLA but it’s mostly about marketing and using real life scenarios and companies to market new things to that can help them grow and such” Ullah said.