Students involved in the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) at Wareham High School are keeping busy, and becoming more well-rounded individuals and growing as a group in the process.

180 students belong to the club, which meets both during school and after and helps prepare them for their futures in the fields of marketing, finance, hospitality, and management—all while creating lasting relationships among their peers.

“DECA’s like a big family,” said senior Arnie Tavares, who’s a member of the club. “There’s a lot going on in DECA, and DECA’s for everyone.”

Currently, many of the students in DECA — which includes freshmen, juniors, sophomores, and seniors — are preparing for regional competitions in Quincy on January 9 and 10. There, they’ll compete with students from the region for a chance to move onto state and national competitions versus DECA students from other schools.

At the competitions, students go through role playing exercises that focus on preparing them for life in the working world after high school and/or college.

Students said that in some of the exercises, they’re given a typical scenario that they’d face at their place of employment. Students pick one of the different subject areas previously mentioned.

“You could be an executive going in front of your boss, or you could be someone applying for a job,” said Tavares. “It gets you focused on real life for when you’re in your career.”

“They give you a role play scenario, and you act it out how you would act in real life,” said senior Katelynn Halpern.

Not only do the Wareham DECA students get to prepare for their futures through the programs involved with DECA, but they also do a good deal of fundraising (they currently have about 10 different fundraisers in progress) and team-building exercises that bring them closer together.

They also attend a number of field trips together and re-opened the school store called “The Ship.” This year, they’ve even taken on a new undertaking—raising money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association—after friend, fellow classmate, and DECA member Chistopher Dorné passed away in June following complications from surgery relating to muscular dystrophy.

“Everyone knew Chris in the school, and they’re all very supportive,” said senior Brianna Williams, noting that they’d raised over $1,500 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association so far toward their goal of $2,500.

As previously noted, several students involved in DECA spend time after school preparing for the upcoming competition, and late last week, two former DECA members and Wareham High graduates Emily Bacchiocchi and Kelley Peterson were at the school to help the current DECA students prepare for the competition.

“If I could go back and choose only one thing I could have done in high school, it would definitely be this,” Peterson, who is currently a freshman at Bridgewater State University. “I think it’s the most important program that Wareham High School offers, and I think more schools should offer the same program.”

Students this year are hoping to build on the success past Wareham DECA students have had at the competitions.

“Wareham normally does really really well at competition—last year, over 80 went to states,” said senior Hollianne Sprowl, though she noted that that DECA’s not necessarily about wins and losses. “We want everyone to feel like they’re a part of something.”