Photo credit McKayla Taft
Photo credit Lindsey BaldwinGorham High School students Asma Sayed (top) and McKayla Taft (bottom) competed in the DECA conference recently.
Gorham High School senior Asma Sayed and junior McKayla Taft competed along with over 30 other students from their marketing tech programs at Westbrook Regional Technical Center at the State Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) Conference in Manchester, NH in February.
DECA is a non-profit organization with a mission to prepare both high school and college students in the areas of marketing, finance, hospitality and management, while strongly supporting 21st century skills.
“There are many lessons that will prepare you for life,” said Sayed. “I had an amazing second-year experience with DECA.”
Sayed competed in an Individual Series Event, which had two major parts: a 100-question cluster exam and “2 role-plays.” She was given ten minutes to review a scenario and then had another ten minutes to present her solution to a judge. She won first place in “2 role-plays” and third place on the exam.
Taft won first place in Interview Skills. She was allowed to bring a prepared resume, but was only given the job information the night before the interview competition, which included meeting the interviewer and applying for a job.
“I’ve never done anything like this before,” said Taft. “Sometimes I can be very shy, and overwhelmed, so this was a nice experience for me.”
With over 450 students and advisors, it was the biggest DECA conference for New Hampshire and was the first time Maine DECA was invited by New Hampshire DECA to compete at the 35-category event.