Sartell Students Gear Up For Big DECA State Competition

The Sartell-St. Stephen DECA program is sending 16 kids to Minneapolis March 1-3 for the State DECA competition.  Sartell-St. Stephen DECA Advisor Porter Siltman says there will be well over 3,000 kids from across the state participating in this 3-day event.

Variety of Business Competitions

Sartell will have kids participating in a variety of competitions that include role plays were kids are presented with different business situations and present their ideas.  They could also present projects they've been working on since September where they give 15-minute presentations.

What is DECA

DECA is co-curricular and goes along with what students are learning in their business classes.  Kids compete is business related events.  Students can demonstrate their knowledge of marketing, entrepreneurship, finance, accounting, etc... Other competitions include the selling of a product, to partnering with a business to enhance their operations.

How Students Qualified

To qualify for the state competition each student needs to finish in the top 8 in their event at Districts.  This is the 3rd year Sartell has had a DECA program and this is the first year Siltman had led it.  He says last year Sartell had 13 participants at the state meet.  He says they are proud of the growth in the program.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Porter Siltman, click below.