DECA announces district winners; over 100 students qualify to states

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After about 200 DECA students completed their testing Dec. 5 or wrote papers due Dec. 31, the club hosted a district awards ceremony Jan. 17.

The top 15 students in every event qualify to attend states, receiving a medal, with the top 3 winning a trophy as well.

As of Jan. 17, 103 students have qualified to states. According to advisor Ms. Heather Weissman, even more students are likely to qualify in the upcoming days — due to other students dropping out of some events or out of the competition altogether due to scheduling conflicts. About 50 students wrote papers but also entered in testing categories in order to maximize their chance of qualifying; if they qualified in both categories, they will get to choose one to compete with at states, opening up more spots for other students.

The Florida DECA Career Development Conference takes place Feb. 29 through March 3. DECA chapter president and senior Austin Klein feels proud of his team and looks forward to attending. “It shows a ton of dedication to have more than 100 kids qualify and I’m extremely proud of everyone for putting their best foot forward, whether they qualified or not,” he said.

Here are the 103 state qualifiers from Heritage.

As they watched Broward’s virtual ceremony from the Chorus Room, students in Photos 1 and 2 waited with baited breath to hear whether or not they made the cut. In Photo 3, seniors Austin Klein (left) and Melissa Bermudez (right) hosted the awards ceremony, as President and Vice President (respectively) of the club. In Photo 4, the advisor Ms. Heather Weissman (right) and Klein (left) spoke with students before the ceremony, notifying them of details for the state trip and next steps needed for all qualifiers. (Photos/Anya Pinto)

Now a senior at American Heritage, Anya returns as Editor-in-Chief of the Patriot Post. With her passion for journalism, she is Co-President of the Quill and Scroll Honor Society. She started an organization called “ActionPAKT: Projects Advocating for a Kinder Tomorrow” to educate youth about current issues and help them take action; currently, she has expanded it to 15+ chapters in multiple countries, raising $17,000 within the Heritage chapter itself. As a Youth Ambassador for Bullets4Life, Anya advocates for gun control. She leads the top Model UN program in the nation as President, competing nationally and organizing conferences at school. To relax, Anya hangs out with friends, swims, goes on walks and binge watches Netflix. She loves the beach, good food and her lazy little dog Simba more than anything.