The North High School DECA competitors were victorious at their state competition March 7, 8 and 9. The competition was held in the Hyatt Regency hotel in Columbus. Five students will move on to the national competition in Atlanta, GA.

The snowy weather had a big impact on this year’s competition. Over 20 inches of snow fell from Friday to Saturday, breaking the record of 15 inches set in 1910. Schools from all over Ohio struggled to drive to Columbus on roads covered with snow and ice. A few schools were not able to make it and were disqualified from the competition.

Students arrived at the Hyatt on the afternoon of Friday, March 7. North brought 19 students, 17 of which were competitors in the marketing events. Students settled into their rooms at the Crowne Plaza hotel. Due to the weather, students were not able to make their anticipated trip to Easton Mall.

That night, competitors went to the DECA opening ceremony. A few awards were given out, including Student Honor Awards. Four seniors from North received this award: Tibor Gal, Kaedra Herink, Dejana Soprenic, and Stephen Triola.

After the ceremony, students had to take their Marketing exams at 8 p.m. They consisted of 100 questions, related to marketing and students’ individual marketing category. The 100 point test, in addition to two 100 point role-plays, are combined and determine where each competitor places in his or her category.

After the tests were taken, students were given information regarding changes to the competition. Due to the harsh weather and road conditions, it was anticipated that many judges would not be able to arrive the next day. The judges are the people who score the competitors on each role-play or presentation. It was decided that the standard two role-plays would be cut down to one role-play per student. This worried some students, who felt their interviews were stronger than their test scores. With the point total reduced from 300 to 200, both the test and role-play had to be flawless.

DECA students were able to have fun at the first DECA dance on March 7, held at the Hyatt Regency hotel.

The next morning, students prepared for their role-plays. Due to the lack of judges, the time students normally have to prepare and present a role-play was also cut. Instead of 10 minutes to prepare and 10 to present, students had around 7 minutes to prepare and 8 minutes to present.

All trips to go out of the hotel, to shop or dine, were cancelled for all students. The weather was so severe, DECA moved its awards ceremony from the Veterans Memorial building to inside the Hyatt hotel ballroom. This was for safety issues, because all students had to travel by bus and would not be able to make it to the ceremony.

The awards ceremony was held at 7:30 p.m. on March 8. Students were excited as they waited outside of the ballroom. There was a rush of students pouring in the doors when the ballroom opened. As each category was announced, the top-10 highest scoring competitors made their way to the stage. They received medals and waited to see who would score in the top-5 and make it to nationals. Third place, second place, and first place were called and presented with trophies; fourth and fifth place names were flashed on a screen behind the stage.

North had seven big wins and five students qualifying for the national competition. The first win was for Ebony Scruggs, who made it in the top-10 of her Apparel & Accessories category. The second winner was Brad Mayhew, scoring second place in his category of Food Marketing. The next winner was Tibor Gal, placing in the top-10 of the Quick Serve Restaurant Management event. Dejana Soprenic won next, placing first in the Retail Merchandising category. The fifth winner was Jessica Syler, placing first in her category of Hotel & Lodging Management. Next was Yusef Bridges, placing second in Business Services Marketing. The last win was for Kaedra Herink, placing first in the Restaurant & Food Service Management category.

This is the first time three of the five competitors will have a chance to compete at the national competition in Atlanta, GA. They are junior Yusef Bridges, and seniors Brad Mayhew and Dejana Soprenic. Seniors Jessica Syler and Kaedra Herink both competed last year at the 2007 national competition in Orlando, FL.

National competitors will fly to Atlanta on April 26 and return to Ohio on April 30. Their competition will consist of another 100-question marketing test and two role-plays. Competitors scoring in the top-10 of their category will have to do a third role-play, to determine the first, second, and third places in each event. It is estimated that over 15,000 competitors, advisers, and others will attend the competition this year.