Wareham High School’s DECA chapter sent 19 students to the International DECA Competition held from April 23 to 27 in Nashville, Tennessee. Of those 19 students, 11 competed and one, Brett McSherry, earned the highest score at the conference in one particular category.

The Wareham students were among 17,500 other high schoolers from around the globe who attended the International Career Development Conference. DECA is designed to prepare students for careers in marketing, hospitality, finance and management.

McSherry scored well in her role playing category, besting her competition.

“She had the highest role play activity score, which is very difficult to do,” said DECA advisor Mike Cali.

Qualifying for the national event is a process that starts early in the year, as students make their way through local and regional competitions.

Last year, 13 students qualified to compete and 11 attended the international conference. Cali said with this year’s strong showing he expects club members to return for 2017.

Of the 19 students that went to the national conference, 14 were seniors. Cali said he expects the underclassmen to continue the school’s strong showing.

“This was their last hurrah,” Cali said. “As we grow as a club the legacy will continue as the juniors become the senior leaders next year.”

Jayla Silva, a senior and the club’s executive vice president, said the event proved to be about more than just learning business skills.

“It’s definitely life changing,” she said. “For me, the club has been one of the most influential and important aspects of high school. From the nationals alone you learn a lot about how other people view the world.”

Silva earned a fourth place finish at the state level in her category, marketing management. She plans to attend Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island to pursue a marketing major with a concentration in global studies.

“She’s going to be someone we’re going to miss a lot,” said Cali. “She is definitely one of the top students we have in the organization.”

At the high school, Cali said approximately 300 students attend a DECA class while the club itself has 160 active members. Of those 160 students, Cali said about 60 are highly motivated to participate in club activities.