Steve Seebeck was one of many local business professionals helping as judges for the DECA event held on the University of Missouri–St. Louis campus last week. (Photos by Derik Holtmann)
More than 200 high school students from 12 local schools gathered in the Century Rooms at the Millennium Student Center on the campus of the University of Missouri–St. Louis on Thursday morning, prepared with carefully researched and written proposals to pitch to a group of judges at the annual District 7 DECA competition.
The students created presentations for 37 different categories. The top two students in each category advanced to the state competition, which will be held in late March.
“I was very impressed,” said Felicia Miller, a board member for the Greater North County Chamber of Commerce who served as a judge for the event. “I started thinking, ‘Wow, I need to hire some of these students in my office.’ It speaks a lot to how prepared they are and how ready they are to go out into the community. This competition helps give them an idea of how to prepare for going out into the real world.”
Every single school had multiple winners advance to the state level. District 7 includes Hazelwood Central High School, Hazelwood East, Hazelwood West, Jennings, McCluer, McCluer North, McCluer South-Berkeley, Orchard Farm, Pattonville, Riverview Gardens, St. Charles and St. Charles West.
Jamie Pendleton, a sophomore at Jennings High School, was one of the students who will be going on to the state competition. She took first place in the Start-Up Business Plan category, drawing on her interest in being a writer to come up with her paper and proposal.
“I love reading, and I’ve met some young authors myself,” Pendleton said. “I want to write books, so that topic resonated with me. I thought, ‘I could do this to help other people while doing something I love.’”
The DECA competition rules allowed the students to use note cards when meeting with the judges, and after their presentation they received feedback as part of the process.
“I just sat down to talk to the judge about it,” Pendleton said. “Then she talked to me afterwards about what she liked and what I could do better.”
Melissa Brandon, who teaches accounting and marketing at Hazelwood West, is the competitive events director for District 7. She ran the event and announced the winners, too. She was thrilled to have UMSL host the competition.
“We’re hoping that getting them here and getting to see the campus and start meeting the people at the tables, they’ll see UMSL is a good choice,” Brandon said. “We just want to show them some options so they don’t think they have to go several hours away for college. We’re hoping to make this a partnership with the College of Business Administration.”
For Miller, who owns Miller Agency and Associates, an American Family Insurance affiliate in Florissant, coming to UMSL as a judge brought up a few flashbacks. Her two kids, now in their late 20s, both participated in UMSL’s Bridge Program, and she saw this DECA event as a similar introduction to campus life for the students who participated.
“With this experience being right here in the community in North County and hosting these type of events, it’s important because it gives the student an opportunity to be on this campus and see what it’s like to be a student,” she said. “And they might even select this university as opposed to going out of state. Right here in our own community, we have a super university for them to attend.”
Allison Heimsath, who works in the UMSL Admissions department, spoke with the high school students participating in DECA about attending UMSL.
For UMSL, it’s a welcome opportunity to showcase the campus to potential students. Allison Heimsath, who works in the UMSL Admissions Department, had an opportunity to speak with the students before the results were announced, as UMSL stickers and pens were passed out, along with inquiry cards for prospective students.
Zach St. Clair, a graduate recruiter in the College of Business Administration, helped organize the event, setting up tables for different UMSL departments to chat with interested students.
“This was great,” he said. “It’s a chance for students to get acclimated with UMSL and some of our accelerated programs. I’ve talked with some of the students who have said, ‘I’m already thinking about my master’s,’ and they’re still in high school. This helps elevate our programs and getting the word out.”
