Wareham High School DECA students are preparing to show off their business, marketing and entrepreneurial skills on the state, district and potentially international level as their competition season approaches.

DECA is an international non-profit organization dedicated to teaching kids about business, marketing, finance and more as well as giving them the skills they need to prepare as future entrepreneurs. Schools can set up DECA chapters and Wareham High School has had kids participating in DECA for close to 50 years.

Each year DECA hosts competitions at district, state and international levels for kids to demonstrate the skills they have learned and Wareham High School Principal Scott Palladino said around 55 Wareham students are heading to the district competition in Hyannis Thursday, Jan. 9.

"Usually our kids do quite well and they take back a fair share of awards to the high school," said Palladino.

He added at the district competitions, kids can qualify for the state competition in Boston and potentially qualify for the international competition being held in Orlando, Fl. He said he expects 12 to 15 students qualify for the international competition.

According to Lisa Cunha, Business and Marketing Teacher and DECA advisor at the high, the students in the competitions are given a scenario to role play and they have a number of criteria they must meet in their scenario.

The scenarios fall under six different categories ranging from hospitality and tourism to personal finance and Cunha said the students do many projects and get real world experience to help prepare for the competition, and for the future.

"I'm a project based teacher and we do a lot of real life things that the kids may not realize they could need one day," said Cunha.

She added that she has seen many of her students form strong connections with students from other schools at the competitions.

"Last year I took a student to the international competition and she saw someone who she had met at a previous competition," said Cunha. "They stopped, hugged and said hi and it was really nice to see."

Cunha added she has had students reach out to her after graduation looking for projects they did while in the DECA program.

"A student made a business plan for a photography business and a few years after graduation, he contacted me looking for the plan he made," said Cunha.

The experience also acts as fundraising opportunities for the students to defer the cost of the competitions and travel. DECA students will organize a holiday craft fair and run the concession stand at high school basketball games to help raise money.

She added the fundraising efforts take students out of the classroom and into the community which she said has been a big supporter of DECA.

"The social media marketing class picks a local business and for the final they create a social media campaign for them," said Cunha.

While learning about business and how to be a successful entrepreneur, Cunha said she has seen the program have some unexpected positive effects on the students.

"I had a student who moved here during covid and he didn't know anyone," said Cunha. "I had him in class and as a senior and he went to the international competition and he grew personally, socially and was able to make friends and form strong connections."