On December 12, members of Leesville’s Deca club took a field trip to the Raleigh Convention Center to perform at a Deca competition. A number of Leesville student received awards for their presentations.
Ryan Carney, senior, received a medal for his test score, Meg Milan, senior, and her brother Ryan, sophomore, received medals for their role plays while Charlotte Galamb won first place in the principles of marketing category.
A Deca competition consists of a test which is taken in advance of the competition and then a role play. The purpose of Deca club is to strengthen speaking skills and teach students how to think on their feet in pressure situations. The students participate in a role play which is graded by judges who watch and critique their performance.
Role plays are when the participant is given a scenario with guidelines and they must give a presentation to a group of judges. Scenarios could include an interview, a sales pitch, a marketing presentation or other form of demonstration.
In order to prepare for the competition, officers in Deca Club held a “boot camp” for club members and critiqued them, giving the positive feedback. Galamb attributes much of her success to the boot camp that she attended.
“Also, taking a marketing class really helped me out,” said Galamb. Confidence is a key in any Deca competition and Galamb demonstrated that as she won her category.
Meg Milian thinks that their preparation allowed them to succeed in the competition. “It was a good practice for states as well,” said Milan.
At the end of the day, “Being yourself in front of the judges” is the best way to impress the judges, according to Galamb.
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