By Craig Brinkerhoff
Staff Writer
The first DECA competition of the year will be held on January 31st, and business teacher John Rogers looks happy about this year’s group.
“Just from sheer numbers, we have enough kids that we could sweep each event. A lot of kids this year have been training harder than they have in the past,” said Rogers.
Westford Academy has so many kids, 260 in fact, that they have secured the title of largest DECA club in the state. Because of this, half of the testing for the district competition on the 31st has already been completed.
“We take online testing here, and we do the second half of the competition on the 31st in Chelmsford,” said Rogers.
The test includes one hundred multiple choice questions on general business knowledge. The portion in Chelmsford is a role play, wherein the competitors compete to win in front of a judge. The two halves are then put together, for a single, cohesive score.
Westford began this online testing procedure. Other schools, originally reluctant, hopped on board after seeing the flawless results of Westford’s testing. Now, all nine schools in the district participate in this online format.
The top performers within their event head to Boston for the state meet, which in turn leads to Nationals in Anaheim, California.
Rogers takes qualifying so seriously that he has quietly built an archive of DECA knowledge for Westford kids only.
“We have a website, it’s password protected so other schools can’t use it. I have been accumulating information over the past several years for kids to study from, sample tests, sample role plays. If anybody reads those things and studies, you can’t help but qualify,” said Rogers.
Rogers has even nailed down down five key attributes a successful competitor must embody.
“Mature, they can present well in front of a judge, self-motivated, creative, and can think on their feet,” said Rogers.
With so many new freshman, many of whom won ‘t have business courses until next semester, it’s important to give them the information required to succeed. There have been training classes every Tuesday and Thursday since October, providing these underclassmen with the knowledge to best some upperclassmen who have been slacking off.
Despite this, most upperclassmen have arrived prepped and ready to go, including many national competitors, including seniors Ally Hopkins and Leah Giacalone.
“They went to nationals with us last year, we had 25 kids make it last year, and the majority of them are coming back this year. We got a good base to start, and we’ll see how the underclassmen do,” said Rogers.
With so much new and returning talent, it’s no wonder why Rogers is excited for this year’s DECA.
“I think we’ll do pretty good. I’m looking forward to it,” said Rogers.
