On October 22nd, members of the GHS DECA club traveled to Bentley University to attend the annual Fall State Leadership Conference. The 15 students were able to attend workshops, practice roleplays, and network with other members from around the state.
The Fall State Leadership Conference is the first DECA conference of the year in Massachusetts. Its purpose is to educate Massachusetts DECA members about how to be successful in competition, grow their confidence, and have them meet new people.
Bentley University, being a sponsorship of Massachusetts DECA, hosts the event annually in late October. During the day, students are given the opportunity to tour the school and learn more about the collegiate opportunities offered.
The day started with an opening ceremony, where students are greeted by state officers who represent for MA internationally, and organize state events. Immediately following this, state officers conducted a Leadership Academy, in which chapters were separated and given the opportunity to meet new friends and network with other chapters.
“I especially liked connecting with other DECA members from around Massachusetts,” President of the DECA chapter Ruby McElhenny said. “At the beginning when we were put in groups, it was a great opportunity to have fun and network with new people and talk about their DECA events and learn from them and their chapter experiences.”
After this, students went their separate ways and were able to attend up to three workshops. With 12 different options, DECA members had a wide variety of seminars to choose from. Some of them focused on tips and tricks to help with competition, others were to help grow chapters.
“My favorite workshop would have to be the written projects one.” Sophomore and DECA secretary Aleena Brown said. “It really helped me with my written paper since it’s my first year doing a written event for DECA. It was very interactive and informative.”
The DECA club at Gloucester High School gained insightful knowledge regarding the world of business and other important skills they can use in the real world. From here, the club plans to prepare for competition, and get ready for more non-competitive conferences such as DECA Day on the Hill on November 7th.
