On Saturday, April 21, DECA members flew out to Atlanta, Georgia to partake in a national competition. Around 40 students from Fossil Ridge High School and Poudre School District attended, and competed in various events.. Although students were disappointed that less were able to go to nationals, as 40 students from Fossil alone attended in 2017, they still made the most of the opportunity and learned a lot on their trip.

In the opening ceremony, there were around 17,000 members of the DECA program from across the country, with a few people from other countries as well. Deja Slater said her favorite part of DECA nationals was, “getting to know different people from around the world who were interested in the same things as me.”

Competition began on Monday, April 23, and students competed in a variety of events, such as principles of finance, sports entertainment, marketing, and accounting. Principal events were done individually, and there were also a variety of team events.

The DECA program is all about educating young leaders for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. While some were competing, other attendees were able to go to an academy. Similar to classes, students could go to one that interested them to learn more about a certain area of focus.

Besides competing, Fossil students on the trip explored Atlanta by going to the aquarium, touring the CNN Center, and going to a city market for shopping. Going out for dinner each night allowed Fossil students to bond with other people from the Poudre School District.

Those who qualified for final competitions were announced on Tuesday morning. No students from Poudre School District qualified. Madison Booton reflected, “Everyone did a really good job and it was really hard to get to finals because it was so competitive.”

After flying back on Wednesday, DECA members who got the opportunity to attend nationals have brought what they have learned back to Colorado with them. Amy Moreno says, “You can never practice too much and I learned to be more responsible with scheduling.”