DECA is a club at LHS that is involved with business tasks and problems that a member is assigned. They are constantly involved in activities and are a club that gets together very often. Michael Jones is the head of the club, and he continually works hard to help his students get the most possible out of DECA.

“Since DECA is a year round activity/club, we are always working on the next project, trip or activity,” said Jones. “We just returned from our Central Regional Leadership Conference that was held in Indianapolis, IN from Nov. 18-20. We will next start fundraising for our State Conference that will be held here in Sioux Falls from February 27-28, 2017.”

The next event that DECA will attend involves schools from around the area, promising it will be a competitive meeting.

“Our next event is our state conference that takes place in February and is held here in Sioux Falls,” said Jones. “DECA members from Lincoln, Roosevelt, Washington and Harrisburg will take a 100 questions written business exam and then compete in a business category of their choice. The competition consists of a business problem that the DECA members are asked to solve and then present their solution to a business leader in their particular category. The state conference is how DECA members qualify for our international conference. Each year between 100-125 DECA students compete.”

The competitions are not the only enjoyable part about this club. Seeing how students can compete and change outside of competitions is a huge part of it, too.

“Being able to witness the growth in our members as they progress year to year in DECA,” said Jones. “It is amazing the confidence, communication and personal growth that DECA members develop as they are able to network with thousands of other DECA members and participate in professional growth workshops. It is also fun to work with high school students outside of the teacher-student relationship.”