Round Rock, Texas - This past week, the Granbury DECA Chapter traveled to Round Rock,
Texas, to compete in the District 5 Career Development Conference. Over 2,300 students
competed in 50 different events based in Marketing, Finance, Hospitality, and Management
disciplines.
Texas, to compete in the District 5 Career Development Conference. Over 2,300 students
competed in 50 different events based in Marketing, Finance, Hospitality, and Management
disciplines.
Granbury took 42 students to compete in 24 various events - the most ever since the Chapter
revitalized in 2022. All events are competed in two parts - a test or project submission in
December and then a presentation or role-play scenario at the District event. The presentation
based events require students to write a 10 to 20 page business plan about a business they
created or a project they coordinated, and then present their findings. The role-play style events
require the students to take a 100 question exam, and then at District are handed a scenario
where they have 10 minutes to prepare a response and 10 minutes to present it to the judge - a
true ‘thinking on your feet’ style of event.
This year Granbury will have 16 competitors dubbed the “Sweet Sixteen” moving forward to the
State competition. Competitors in the role-play events will have to retest prior to competition
and presentation based events will have opportunities to revise their business plans. This will
be the first time for each of these students ranging from freshmen to seniors to be advancing to
the State level. Of the 16, only four had previous competition experience in last year’s District
event.
“In my first year, we took seven students to compete in District with five advancing to State and
one advancing to the International competition,” said Advisor and Business Marketing Teacher
Kylee Peterson. “Last year, we took 28 to District and six advanced. Seeing how our numbers
are almost doubling each year shows how competitive our program is.”
The Chapter as a whole also earned several national recognitions highlighted at the event. The
national DECA office issues challenges for chapters to compete in to earn seats at their
prestigious academies held at the International conference. Granbury completed three
challenges including the Membership, Promotion, and Community Service campaigns. For the
first time in school history, the Chapter also was recognized as one of the nine Chapters in our
district as “Century Chapter” turning in a membership of over 100 students, alumni, and
community members.
The Anchor Store located within Granbury High School is also awaiting their recertification as a
Gold-Level School Based Enterprise from the national DECA office. This is a prestigious
recognition where schools can apply for the designation by submitting a 25 page paper covering
how their enterprise is managed and operated. Granbury first earned its designation last year,
and will be looking forward to competing in the SBE event at the International level in April. The
Anchor store is also the only and primary source of funding for the DECA Chapter raising
money through daily sales of food, drinks, and apparel on campus.
Peterson says that something transforms in the students when they put on their business suits
and walk into the competition. “For most of the students, this is their first time wearing a
business suit and you can see their whole demeanor change. This confidence comes over
them and they lock into their event. We call it our ‘Pirate Swagger’.”
Below is a list of competitors and the events they will be competing in:
● Apparel & Accessories Marketing - Peyton Mitchell
● Business Finance Series - Warner Phillips
● Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making - Kaylee Connor and Gracie Colvin
● Food Marketing Services - Alison Galindo
● Franchise Business Plan - Maddie Cutler, Ryli Lewis, and Anna Quinn
● Hospitality Services Team Decision Making - Rayleigh Langdon and Sierra Morisette
● Community Giving - Bodie Chastain and Sierra Couden
● Sales Project - Braeden Hunt, Austin Pruett, and Kylee Upchurch
● Start-Up Business Plan - Anahi Medrano
DECA Chapter Advisors are Peterson, Tammy Bodine, and Austen Graham. The State DECA
Career Development Conference will be held February 15 -17th in Houston, Texas.