Wareham High School’s DECA team shined during state competition at the Marriott Copley Place Hotel in Boston earlier this month. Thirty-nine Wareham students competed in the State Career Development Conference and nine will travel to Florida in April for a national competition.

The SCDC invites all six districts of Massachusetts DECA students to come together for the weekend to go head-to-head in 41 different categories. DECA is an organization that encompasses marketing, management, financing, hospitality, and business administration curriculum.

Depending on their marketing area, the students go through an array of oral presentations and written exams. Wareham competitors took home four first-place trophies, four second-place trophies, and one forth-place trophy. The group was awarded 14 medallions for finishing in the top three in one of their exams. Twenty-one of the 39 students were named conference finalists.

The nine students who took home trophies and will be taking their marketing skills to Orlando, Florida to compete in the International Career Development Conference in April. Along with the nine students, three more students will be attending educational leadership academies offered by National DECA.

"We are happy to be sending all twelve students to Orlando, Florida at the end of April, where they will make their families, school, community, and DECA Chapter extremely proud,” said Cindy Sylvia, Wareham High School DECA advisor. “We wish them best of luck with their competitive events.”

DECA will be participating in a fundraiser with Wareham High softball players to help support the team's travel expenses to national competitions. The students will be selling $20 coupon cards containing deals for dozens of local businesses and eateries for the next two weeks. To purchase a card, contact Cindy Sylvia at 508-291-3150 ext. 128.

DECA is the largest club in Wareham High School and includes roughly 20 percent of the student body. The national club spans all 50 states and nine countries.