With the school year coming to an end, graduating seniors pass on their legacy in their various clubs. DECA, Distributive Education Clubs of America, a business club, has acquired a large number of members since its inception. As DECA approaches a new year, the club looks to reflect on some of the changes and continue its growth. 

“The biggest change is there were a few [core] people at the start and now it’s a big club,” says Brooks Wright, a junior who joined DECA when it was newly formed. When looking to next year, Wright hopes for “more collaborations between the members and the officers.” 

Wright also talked about the increase of women in positions this past year. Wright says, “there were a lot of guys in the club, but this year, there’s definitely more women in leadership positions.” The DECA club advisor, Mr. Levin, similarly comments on this change saying “half of the officers are women which I’m really happy about.”

As the club anticipates the upcoming ’23-’24 school year, Mr. Levin was somewhat apprehensive as the club had been started and led by the graduating seniors. However, his worries were eased when the club elected their next officers who are “a mix of grades, but mostly juniors” ready to lead the club into the next year. 

As the club has become more established, it’s also become more competitive. Luke Sharpe, a sophomore in DECA, says that “towards the end of this year we [gained] a lot of new members… and [we] know what we’re doing for the future so we can be more competitive.”

Jack Sharpe, a senior in DECA, felt similarly about the club saying “when I first started [with] the club junior year… we had maybe five or six dedicated members who were actually there for the competition part of it… now that the club has become more concrete, a lot of people are really trying to get into the competition side of things.”

With more members, more organization, and a stronger grasp on how the club works, STHS’ DECA has performed well over the past year. “This year we had significantly more people going to each of the competitions and as a result, we had more people qualify,” says Mr. Levin, “this year we had two people going to nationals, which is really incredible for our second year.”

Jack Sharpe hopes that the club’s success can show DECA as a “fun club” that can lead to opportunities to travel and compete at DECA Nationals. 

But DECA is not just about competition, Mr. Levin says, “it’s also there to provide learning around business and leadership, and also supporting the community and charities.”  To expand on these roles, Mr. Levin has many plans for the future of DECA including developing the club’s reach into the community and getting involved with more charities. 

As DECA moves into the next school year, it’s clear that they will continue to grow into a strong club.